Vault for private Spa

The interest in the possible formal declinations of Abeille’s genial patented vault, led us to examine the relationship between the surface of the vault, the type of stonework employed and the minimum number of modular ashlars necessary for the complete tiling of the structure.

The desire to use the fewest possible geometric elements to ‘fill’ the space,
without creating problems of continuity, responds to the necessity to simplify the phases of construction and mounting in any vaulted structure.

The sphere project was an experiment to create a prototype of a spherical vault using the same ashlars as those patented by Abeille while at the same time applying the simplicity required by contemporary construction specifications.

The tiling of a spherical surface with a single geometrical shape is, as well-known, impossible. Thus we decided to use the joints between ashlars as irregular compensatory elements capable of covering the spherical surface: identical ashlars, different joints.

It is due to the particular geometrical conformation of Abeille’s ashlars that the irregularity of the joints is effectively masked.