The Saltatur demonstrates innovative research in the design and fabrication of a prefab, discrete, spatial composite structure consisting of a spatial, compression-only concrete body, post-tensioning steel rods, and an ultra-thin glass structure on its top in the form of long-span furniture. Using discrete spatial systems would minimize the volume of concrete and the carbon footprint while preserving the necessary mass for structural performance and specific architectural detailing. Achieving a high level of efficiency in utilizing concrete for spatial systems requires a robust and powerful structural design and fabrication approach.

There are multiple design innovations in various phases of the realization of this project, from conceptual structural design to fabrication. This project impeccably combines efficiency, elegance, and economy in one product whose fabrication technique opens a new horizon for the future of construction of large scale systems. The entire volume of concrete used for this structure is 0.06 cubic meters distributed in 4.44 cubic meters (3.1 m x 0.8 m x 1.9 m) of space. This volume makes the relative density of this structure as small as 1% percent (0.013), comparable to the volume density of the human’s bone structure, which demonstrates the ingenuity in the design and engineering of an efficient load-bearing, expressive system.