Throughout the last two decades the timber building sector has experienced a steady growth in multi-storey construction. Although there has been a growing number of research focused on trends, benefits, and disadvantages in timber construction from various technical perspectives, so far there is no extensive literature on the trajectory of emerging architectural typologies. This paper presents an examination of architectural variety and spatial possibilities in current serial and modular multi-storey timber construction. It aims to draw a parallel between architectural characteristics and their relation to structural systems in timber. The research draws from a collection of 350 contemporary multi-storey timber building projects between 2000 and 2021. It consists of 300 built projects, 12 projects currently in construction, and 38 design proposals. The survey consists of quantitative and qualitative project data, as well as classification of the structural system, material, program, massing, and spatial organization of the projects. It then compares the different structural and design aspects to achieve a comprehensive overview of possibilities in timber construction. The outcome is an identification of the range of morphologies and a better understanding of the design space in current serial and modular multi-storey mass timber construction.
Using Charles and Ray Eames’s famous 1950s House of Cards slotting toy as both design metaphor and structural precedent provides the starting point for a novel building logic (utilising three existing Swedish timber systems) that allows volumetrically slotted units to stack inside of and support each other. Contemporary computer-aided fabrication techniques based on evolutionary algorithms and CNC manufacturing strategies are used to produce a methodology for designing a kit-of-parts system at the scale of the skyscraper, based on the slotting together of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. A catalogue of novel slotting methods is produced, and a number of alternative slotted joint treatments identified that hold promising potential for further development, parametrically design and control volumes, understand the fabrication workflow and constructional sequence on site, and build prototypes of the chosen slotting configurations at scales ranging between 1:50 and 1:1.
The ambient movement of three modern multi-storey timber buildings has been measured and used to determine modal properties. This information, obtained by a simple, unobtrusive series of tests, can give insights into the structural performance of these forms of building, as well as providing information for the design of future, taller timber buildings for dynamic loads. For two of the buildings, the natural frequency has been related to the lateral stiffness of the structure, and compared with that given by a simple calculation. In future tall timber buildings, a new design criterion is expected to become important: deflection and vibration serviceability under wind load. For multi-storey timber buildings there is currently no empirical basis to estimate damping for calculation of wind-induced vibration, and there is little information for stiffness under wind load. This study therefore presents a method to address those gaps in knowledge.
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Construction Materials
Summary
Cross-laminated timber has, in the last 6 years, been used for the first time to form shear walls and cores in multi-storey buildings of seven storeys or more. Such buildings can have low mass in comparison to conventional structural forms. This low mass means that, as cross-laminated timber is used for taller buildings still, their dynamic movement under wind load is likely to be a key design parameter. An understanding of dynamic lateral stiffness and damping, which has so far been insufficiently researched, will be vital to the effective design for wind-induced vibration. In this study, an ambient vibration method is used to identify the dynamic properties of a seven-storey cross-laminated timber building in situ. The random decrement method is used, along with the Ibrahim time domain method, to extract the modal properties of the structure from the acceleration measured under ambient conditions. The results show that this output-only modal analysis method can be used to extract modal information from such a building, and that information is compared with a simple structural model. Measurements on two occasions during construction show the effect of non-structural elements on the modal properties of the structure.
Le présent rapport décrit une partie des activités de recherche et développement (R&D) en lien avec la démonstration de la résistance au feu ainsi que les études sur la performance acoustique effectuées dans le cadre de la construction du bâtiment Origine. Ce bâtiment est la tour résidentielle en bois massif la plus haute au Québec. Sa réalisation a débuté en 2015 à la suite des analyses préliminaires de faisabilité technique-économique qui se sont étalées pendant toute l’année 2014. La construction et l’installation se sont finalisées vers la fin de 2017.
En premier lieu, le rapport présente les démarches liées à la réalisation d’un exercice de démonstration d’incendie pour une cage d’escaliers/ascenseur avec une chambre d’habitation adjacente, l’analyse de résultats et les principales conclusions en lien avec la pertinence de l’utilisation du bois massif pour des édifices de grande hauteur. En ce qui concerne la performance acoustique, le rapport présente la méthodologie d’étude et d’analyse des résultats des tests acoustiques pour des assemblages de mur et de plancher utilisés dans le projet Origine. De plus, ce rapport facilite la compréhension des activités réalisées et permet de montrer objectivement la capacité des produits en bois massif à offrir un environnement sécuritaire et confortable aux occupants de bâtiments multi-étagés.
Les principaux résultats indiquent que les cages d’escaliers/ascenseur faites en bois massif, conçues pour une résistance au feu équivalente à celle faites en béton, peuvent offrir une excellente performance et servent d’alternatives adéquates pour les bâtiments multi-étagés. En ce qui concerne le développement d’assemblages acoustiques pour les murs et les planchers en bois massif, il a été prouvé qu’une approche multicritère permet d’offrir des solutions performantes à des coûts raisonnables.
Finalement, il est clair que ce projet constitue un jalon très important dans le chemin d’acceptation des bâtiments multi-étagés en bois massif au Québec et au Canada. Sa construction, faite presque entièrement en bois, a nécessité de nombreux efforts économiques, de R&D, de conception et d’installation. De plus, les activités réalisées pour l’acceptation de ce type de construction ont permis de mettre en place de nouvelles technologies et des techniques de conception qui faciliteront la réplication de ce type de projet partout en Amérique du Nord.
Cross-laminated timber makes timber buildings with an increasing number of storeys achievable. With more storeys, structural robustness needs more attention to make a building survive unforeseen events (e.g. accidents, terrorism) and save lives. For steel and concrete buildings, design methods for robustness focus on connection details. The assessment of joints in cross-laminated timber buildings regarding robustness is rather limited in the literature. The objective of this paper is to conduct an initial assessment of the connectors after the removal of a wall in a platform cross-laminated timber building. We used the finite element method and the component method for the analysis of a case building. The results indicate that the wall-to-wall and the floor-to-floor connectors may fail at low deflection levels leading to high shear loads in the floor panel above the removed wall, which might induce cracking. The removal analysis was only partially completed, but we identified an indication of the deformation behaviour of the case building. Testing and refined modelling of the connections is needed in the future to verify the results. This study may facilitate future investigations regarding robustness of multi-storey cross-laminated timber buildings.
This paper investigates the risk of disproportionate collapse following extreme loading events. The methodology mimics a sudden removal of a loadbearing wall of a twelve-storey CLT building. The ductility-demand from the dynamic simulation is checked against the ductility supplied by the structural components and their connections. The analyses focus on rotational stiffness (k) of the joints by considering three different sub-structural idealisations according to the required modelling details and the feasibility of model reductions. To resist the imposed dynamic forces, the required k-values may be too large to be practically achieved by means of off-the-shelf brackets and screw connections. Improved structural detailing as well as adequate thickness of structural elements need to be considered in order to reduce the probability of disproportionate collapse.
This paper discusses the impact of the natural frequency of multi-storey timber structures, focusing on force-based seismic design. Simplified approaches to determine the frequency of light-frame and cross-laminated timber structures are investigated. How stiffness parameters for simple two-dimensional analysis models can be derived from the different contributions of deformation...
Timber construction is considered a main strategy towards a more sustainable built environment. Industrialized manufacturing methods have advanced the realization of multi-storey timber buildings generating enthusiasm about their implementation in urban areas, and the expectation of their further completion. These are still pilot projects, so there is a lack of specific literature and guidelines, including common understanding, standard procedures and holistic considerations. This paper aims to assess the current situation of design and construction processes of timber buildings in Austria, highlighting barriers and opportunities and formulating recommendations for its further adoption. The methodology used is based on an extended literature review and a qualitative analysis from expert interviews. Different disciplines were involved to approach the topic holistically. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and inductive coded within several iterative rounds. Excerpts were organized into codes, sub-codes and categories to identify and classify themes and patterns and build the case. The findings are structured into the categories of Acquisition, Design and Production and Assembly, and further identified as Barriers and Opportunities. Upon the analysis of results, a selective range of recommendations are formulated and summarized in a catalogue, serving as a guide for further research and actions to widespread the adoption of timber.
In response to the global drive towards sustainable construction, CLT has emerged as a competitive alternative to other construction materials. CLT buildings taller than 10-storeys and CLT buildings in regions of moderate to high seismicity would be subject to higher lateral loads due to wind and earthquakes than CLT buildings which have already been completed. The lack of structural design codes and limited literature regarding the performance of CLT buildings under lateral loading are barriers to the adoption of CLT for buildings which could experience high lateral loading. Previous research into the behaviour of CLT buildings under lateral loading has involved testing of building components. These studies have generally been limited to testing wall systems and connections which replicate configurations at ground floor storeys in buildings no taller than three storeys. Consequently, to develop the understanding of the performance of multi-storey CLT buildings under lateral loading, the performance of wall systems and connections which replicate conditions of those in above ground floor storeys in buildings taller than three storeys were experimentally investigated. The testing of typical CLT connections involved testing eighteen configurations under cyclic loading in shear and tension. The results of this experimental investigation highlighted the need for capacity-based design of CLT connections to prevent brittle failure. It was found that both hold down and angle bracket connections have strength and stiffness in shear and tension and by considering the strength of the connections in both directions, more economical design of CLT buildings could be achieved. The testing of CLT wall systems involved testing three CLT wall systems with identical configurations under monotonic lateral load and constant vertical load, with vertical loads replicating gravity loads at storeys within a 10-storey CLT building. The results show that vertical load has a significant influence on wall system behaviour; varying the vertical load was found to vary the contribution of deformation mechanisms to global behaviour within the elastic region, reinforcing the need to consider connection design at each individual storey. As there are still no structural design codes for CLT buildings, the accuracy of analytical methods presented within the literature for predicting the behaviour of CLT connections and wall systems under lateral loading was assessed. It was found that the analytical methods for both connections and wall systems are highly inaccurate and do not reflect experimentally observed behaviour.
