Shells have a curved surface and gain their unusual strength from their shape. Thus they can be very thin, much less than reinforced concrete permits, which needs to be at least 6 to 8 cm thick. The new material Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GRC) appears to be ideal for shells. Alcali-resistant glass fibres are sprayed (gunnited) or mixed with the mortar, resulting in a concrete which, in addition to its compressive strength, has a permanent tensile strength. The thickness of the shell thus may follow its forces. The Stuttgart shell is composed out of 8 hypar-units with an average thickness of 15 mm. They were subsequently gunnited against one formwork. Since the weight of one unit was 2500 kg only, a standard crane was sufficient to lift and place it. After placing the units into their final position, their joints were cast using GRC-Mix.

Supports: stainless steel balls on reinforced concrete abutments