Technology: Metal Monocoques – Moving Buildings Welded like Ships

Aluminium semi-monocoque: Lord’s cricket ground media centre, London, 1999; 
architects: Future Systems
Steel buildings traditionally consist of a structure and a non-load-bearing outer and/or inner envelope. This division into the skin and bones is not efficient constructionally, because each non-load-bearing element represents a form of ballast that demands larger dimensions for the structural members. Monocoques, in contrast, are a type of building in which an internal linear framework and a load-bearing skin...
Aluminium semi-monocoque: Lord’s cricket ground media centre, London, 1999; 
architects: Future Systems