Prefabrication experiments - 166 - Building Kits - 07 - Intergrid Building System

Industrial designed toy construction sets such as the Meccano or the Erector set, communicate DIY kit building. In construction, sets analogous to Meccano use precisely shaped pieces produced in timber, steel or even aluminum to simplify the building process. Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace (1851) is the archetype of industrially produced kits for architecture. Prefabricated, pre-cut, connectable and coordinated parts are developed for post and beam, platform frames, box frames or in industry for racking, scaffolding, temporary shelters, and portable buildings. The compatible mass-produced parts inform a myriad of potential design variants. 

Although not habitually related to kit architecture, reinforced precast and prestressed concrete systems have also been developed to explore quick assembly.  The metabolist mega-structure used as a receptacle for personalized dwelling units elucidated the kit strategy applied to large scale architecture and even to city planning. Other simplified versions such as the Intergrid Building System (Britain 1960s) arose addressing the objective of building robust, fire resistant structures while reducing the site intensive work normally associated with onsite cast concrete. These systems responded to the overwhelming need for post-war rebuilding in many industrialized nations. The Intergrid system is basically a platform post and beam skeletal system with floor structures composed of precast and prestressed girders. 

The system uses four categories of beams, which are fashioned and regulated by their hierarchy within the system, from floor girders, to connecting tie beams and to principle supporting beams. The column and beam connections are pin doweled and grouted in place, creating a rigid assembly.  The arrangement is organized by a 1000 mm planning grid and a 250 mm vertical module. The prestressed beams could achieve spans from 12 to 18 m according to required floor loads. Prestressed concrete uses steel tended cables before or after casting to reduce component weight while increasing tensile strength, addressing two of concrete’s weaknesses. The girders’ open web facilitate service distribution by creating a two directional void network. A giant concrete meccano set, the modular organisation was used for many building typologies from schools to offices. The large spanning open plan allows for the building to easily adapt and evolve according to users’ changing needs.

Intergrid assembly diagrams