Research and Development
Patrick Teuffel‘s professional vita has had at all times a significant part of elementary research and investigations into structural engineering. The continuous analysis, but also the visionary questioning of future possibilities, allows him to enter new grounds of engineering. With the help of lectures and his teaching at serval universities Patrick Teuffel is in constant exchange between theory and real world projects.
Innovative Structural Design (ISD) is a committee at Eindhoven University of Technology where, under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Patrick Teuffel, new building materials and systems and their performative behaviour are being examined. It is one of the few chairs that equally relate to architecture and structural engineering. The interdisciplinary collaboration of staff and students leads to a synergy of new innovative aspects of future structural systems. The direct link with industry is yet another important feature of this chair and it‘s research projects. One of the core subjects are the use of new building materials or the innovative application of soft- and hardware tools.
Adaptive Systems
Only few buildings are able to adapt their system, i. e. their structure and / or envelope, according to changing demands. In this respect nature is way ahead of the construction industry. Plants turn themselves into the direction of the sunlight and trees grow differently according to changing environmental influences. The chameleon surpassed all of this by spontaneously changing it‘s skin colour. Similar processes should be possible between a static building and it‘s alternating environment. So called adaptive materials, also known as smart materials, are able to do so by a change in their physical or chemical properties. For example, their application in high-rise buildings or in bridges can lead to greater heights or longer spans.
Parametric Design
Contemporary architecture is increasingly formulated by it‘s complex geometric shapes which are defined by both structure and facade. TEUFFEL ENGINEERING CONSTULTANTS provides technological and conceptual design services to support the realisation of novel architectural forms from the initial sketch to built reality. Our team comprises professionals with many different cross disciplinary backgrounds, such as structural engineers, CAD technicians, architects and programmers. Our scope of services ranges from the development of preliminary geometric concepts to the rationalisation of complex building shapes for the execution on site. We support architects, manufacturers and designers throughout all design stages with creative input, parametric design tools, and computational solutions. The broad background of our team members allows us to tackle any challenge and to create customized solutions on an economical scale. Our skills and experience with complex geometries enable us to optimize structures, to minimize their weight, and to rationalize construction processes.