IAAC builds a workshop for a robot featuring an arborescent structure

The Valldaura Labs Campus of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) is located in the 135-hectare Collserola Natural Park (Barcelona). It is known for its innovative approach to using advanced technologies in its projects. Continuing with this practice, the labs have introduced a KUKA industrial robot, which is a versatile tool capable of milling, cutting wood, and other precision tasks. As part of the Master in Advanced Architecture and Biocities (MAEBB), an international team of students was challenged to design and build a functional house for this robot over a period of four months.

The objective of the project was to create a dedicated space to house and operate this 6-axis milling industrial robot. With a wooden structure, skylights and a refined atmosphere, the space subtly echoes the presence of a cathedral. As a tribute to both craftsmanship and technology, the new building has been named CORA, the acronym for Cathedral of Robotic Artisans.

The project's challenge has been to establish a dialogue between the old brick structure, built in the 19th century, and originally used as a stable, and a new wooden structure representative of 21st-century design. The new structure was designed to be self-supporting, incorporating appropriate spaces, amenities, and infrastructure for both robotic operations and human interaction.

The design of the building involved retrofitting an existing structure adjacent to the Green Fab Lab—the digital manufacturing and research center of the campus-. While the old roof was removed, the brick walls were carefully preserved, restored, and reinforced to maintain the building's structural integrity. Timber was selected as the primary construction material, seamlessly integrating with the surrounding landscape and architecture. The proposed project ensures functionality and aesthetic harmony, while also offering a sustainable alternative to typical construction materials.

An arborescent structure

The project features a pre-constructed, self-sustaining timber framework, supported by seven branching columns that represent tree trunks. These columns hold up a Voronoi-style roof, made of solid wood and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) joints. The joinery, which is precision crafted through Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining, enables the structure to span an 8,8 m by 4,6 m area. These joints were fabricated from CLT panels produced at Valldaura Campus Labs. Due to CNC milling depth limitations, some joints were made of four individually milled layers. Then, they were glued together to form cohesive elements. The result is a seamless and unified structural mass that houses the amenities of the workshop while supporting a living green roof.

Traditional joinery techniques, such as half lap or mortise and Tenon, were combined with digital fabrication methods to construct the junctions of structural columns (200 x 260 mm) and beams (200 x 400 mm), which are made of solid wood. The four sides of the structure were pre-assembled offsite, then craned into position within the four brick walls, and finally securely bolted to the ground by professional construction workers.

To accommodate the new structure and meet the expected structural demands of the robot, the existing floor had to be excavated for a new foundation. A concrete pedestal was placed to support the KUKA industrial robot. A team of MAEBB students, with the assistance of structural engineers, designed and calculated the reinforced concrete foundation and created a terrazzo floor finish. The terrazzo incorporated old bricks found on the Valldaura Estate, giving the floor a unique, sustainable character.

The façade consists of CLT panels, precisely milled on their exterior surfaces to reflect the Voronoi pattern. That creates a dynamic yet subtle design on the building’s envelope. This design approach ensures that the building blends harmoniously with the surrounding natural and historic landscape, while referencing to the new structure that lies within. Contrasly, the interior side of the panels remains raw, preserving the natural texture of the wood.

Mediterranean green roof

A key design goal was to maximize natural light within the space, particularly through the skylight above the robot, as well as through glass doors and windows. The wooden façade effectively prevents direct sunlight from penetrating the building, while the panels provide a full enclosure. Notably, the façade is independent of the historic brick walls, carrying no structural load. This preserves the integrity of the existing architecture.

The first layer of the green roof is an impermeabilization membrane with root barriers applied by using a heat gun on top of the wooden roof panels. The membrane is followed by a layer of geotextile fabric, drainage board, and hummus, to support the growth of local, autochthonous Mediterranean plant species. To ensure proper hydration, irrigation pipes were installed as the final step. The plants selected for the green roof were common honeysuckle, sweet clematis, creeping sedum, and French lavender. All were selected for their adaptability and aesthetic value. Currently, CORA is being used by the Valldaura Labs team as part of their prototyping initiatives, helping to bring forward new solutions for ecological design and advanced manufacturing.