Lamella (structure)

The Lamella roof (also sometimes called the "Zollinger roof" for its inventor Friedrich Zollinger, a municipal building surveyor from Merseburg in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt[1]) is a construction type where the roof is supported by an arched network of overlapping lamellae in rhombic form.

This roof style was designed by Zollinger to satisfy urban expansion needs, where material costs made new construction cost-prohibitive, but existing buildings couldn't support additional stories by adding further masonry walls and high-pitch trusses[2].

The vault system comprises short structural members interwoven across a curved surface in a diamond pattern.

[3][4] Lamella structures can be constructed of wood timber or lumber, concrete, or metal.

[5] Modern versions of this type of structure include glazed metal-framed systems referred to as "transparent shells.