The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., is a project supported by Alice Walton and The Walton Foundation. Her collection, featuring four centuries of American art, is now on display at the recently opened museum. The 201,000-square-foot museum features Ronstan ARS-4 rods from Portsmouth, R.I.-based Ronstan Tensile Architecture, on five of the Crystal Bridges structures. A total of 650 rods are located in the interior of the buildings, crisscrossed between the glulam beams of the suspended roofing structure. Being only 3/4-inch-thick, the rods create the needed structural support without detracting from the impressive, massive wooden roofing structure. The suspended nature of the structures, supported by the glulam beams, was accomplished by employing customized rod clevis connections. Ronstan worked with the project team to develop the custom pieces, which allow for extra articulation compared to a traditional fork connection.
The museum design is unique with two glass bridges that bookend a pond in the center of the museum landscape. Each bridge has a roof made of locally sourced and fabricated glulam-glued and laminated pine timbers. While glulam arches are typically curved in one direction, this project required that they curve in two planes to create a double curvature of the roof.
“Ronstan’s products are integral in supporting the roof, especially under wind and lateral loads- they provided the tolerances the contractor was looking for in this project,” says Cristobal Correa, project lead engineer at New York City-based engineering firm Buro Happold. “At the same time, their sleek, slender look contributes to the elegance of the space.”
Safdie Architects, Boston, served as the project architect; Linbeck, Houston, served as the general contractor; and Daniel Metals Inc., Trussville, Ala., was the metal fabricator.
Ronstan Tensile Architecture, www.ronstantensilearch.com
