Spatial Felted Structure
Design for Manufacture programme
Research Partner - Ou Yang Chun-Nien
The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, 2018
The Spatial Felted Structure produced as a demonstrator model exhibits the fabrication process developed throughout the study Wool as a Bonding Agent The double-sided structure comprised of fifteen birch plywood members, are connected solely via the waterjet procedure.
Plywood was selected as the substrate due to its self-supporting ability and grain consistency. One façade displays wool strip connections that reveal the plywood substrate, while the other side, is completely covered with wool.
Plywood was selected as the substrate due to its self-supporting ability and grain consistency. One façade displays wool strip connections that reveal the plywood substrate, while the other side, is completely covered with wool.
The product’s height is restricted due to the machine’s working area, but there’s no limit to its length, as horizontally it can be continuously joined with more wool.
In the two edges of the structure, members are fixed in 90 degrees. It presents the potential of the volumetric joints alongside the flexible connections and assists in stabilising the structure.





Generating the pattern of the fibre entanglement was one of the study’s discoveries. The toolpath perceived as a decorative feature in addition to its functional role. The method enables designing different graphic patterns that enhance the assets of wool.
The intricate weave-like pattern generated as a whole then deconstructed to multiple paths in a specific order to attain the anticipated impression.
The manufacturing method developed through-out the project offers a new perspective in regards to the introduction of soft materials into the architectural space.


