Carapace Pavilion
The Carapace Pavilion is a multiple award-winning shade pavilion structure in Joshua Tree National Park. It was designed, fabricated, and installed by students and faculty of the USC School of Architecture at the University of Southern California. The project is noted for its complex geometry that was enabled through parametric computer design methods. It is fabricated from Ultra-high performance concrete.
History
The Carapace Pavilion is the result of a partnership between the US National Park Service, the USC School of Architecture, Clark Pacific Precast, and the PCI Foundation. It was designed and fabricated over a three-year period, and installed in Joshua Tree National Park on June 20, 2022.Design and construction
The Carapace Pavilion is a full-scale prototype for a new type of precast concrete toilet facility. It is intended to replace the standard vault toilet buildings that are found throughout the National Park System. The prototype enclosure shell was designed for the extreme climate of Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. The design was inspired by the distinctive rock formations of the region. The project is a performance-based Parametric design using a custom software scripting tool created by a graduate student. The geometry uses a Diagrid structure inspired by the cholla cactus skeleton and an anticlastic shape for strength. The use of ultra-high-performance-concrete allows the ultra-thin-shell to be only 2” thick in places while having no conventional rebar. The design process for the curved tubular structure included finite element analysis and staggered moment connections to achieve the remarkable structural overhang. The design and fabrication process was 99% paperless. Under the guidance of two university faculty Douglas E. Noble and Karen M. Kensek and Teaching Assistant Ivan Monsreal, several hundred architecture students designed and fabricated the project, including using digital design and fabrication driving an on-campus CNC machine operated by students to craft the mold. The student leaders of this project included Zach Bergman, Jeffery Cheung, Hugo Gomez, Michael Haik, Rebecca Kosar, Macky Lopez, Karenne Mashiach, and Ivan Wong.The design allows for all five UHPC panels of three different types to all be cast in a single mold using only one deck at the precast plant. The pavilion was prefabricated offsite to lessen site impacts. It was installed in the National Park in one day. Project dimensions were constrained by the maximum transportation size and weight restrictions for a one-truck, one-trip to the site from the precast plant. The project avoids significant site disturbance by using a raised-bed foundation and earth-anchors for protecting native-cultures artifacts known to occur in this region of the national park. The concrete has been color-calibrated to the existing rock formations of the site. The extreme durability of the materials allows for a 100-year zero-maintenance lifespan. The Carapace Pavilion external concrete shell has been installed and is being used as a shade pavilion without the internal vault toilet facilities while the National Park Service evaluates the experimental design and construction.
Awards
2021 American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter 2021 Design Citation Award2022 PCI Design Award Building Award: Best Custom Solutions
2022 PCI Design Award All-Precast Concrete Solution Honorable Mention
2023 Society Of American Registered Architects Student National Design Award Excellence in Design Award
2023 SARA California Design Award Winner Design Excellence Award