Inspecting a full-scale prototype of the Ahuriri Valley Lodge project in Lund’s Dunedin yard. As you can see from our exploded layer drawing, the complex geometry of the building is primarily defined by the twisted 180 SHS steel beams. The hardwood lamella grid shell bolted underneath has been christened ‘screwlam’ by the Dunning Thornton AW design team. You can see Alistair checking that the actual bending matches his calculations, given the hardwood lamella takes 40% of the structural roof loads! The exterior aluminium ‘rainscale’ over the waterproofing layer is defined by a ‘panelisation tool’ in Grasshopper/Rhino – expertly piloted by Jesse Mathews in our office. Building a full-size prototype has given the design/contractor team a chance to review the details, test alternatives and refine others while the builder has used the learning curve to refine both the construction methodology and the pricing to construct the real thing. We expect to reuse many of these components in the final building.