Author(s): Justin Diles
This research explores the development of curved architectural components from a specific type of sheet material: thermoformable PET foam manufactured from recycled plastic bottles. The principal goal is to develop structural sandwich panels—made by stiffening foam with fiber-reinforced poly-mer (FRP) composites—that are both three-dimensional and materially efficient. Our research examines how waste can be reduced by molding 3D components from flat sheets of recycled material rather than carving them from new blocks of foam. After an overview of historical and contemporary uses of FRP construction by architects, this paper examines the benefits of thermoforming and explores techniques for creating curvilinear structural elements from PET foam that can be heated and formed in wood molds. The initial prototypes discussed are small in scale and limited to components heated in a conventional oven. To overcome size limitations, a custom oven is built to heat standard, 4 ft. x 8 ft. rectangular sheets. The research next illustrates the architectural potential of larger curved FRP sandwich panels; a full-scale prototype is built to test the process from start to finish. Taking the form of a pavilion called Hot.PET, this self-supporting, lightweight structure is made from three large, multi-layered sandwich panel elements. Installed on a college campus, the prototype serves as the focal point and info station for an agricultural demonstration garden fertilized with biosolids—a type of recycled compost. The thermoformed panels used to construct the pavilion incorporate the equivalent of 38,000 .5-liter recycled PET bottles.
Volume Editors
Caryn Brause & Chris Flint Chatto