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.
In this paper, possibilities and challenges of novel robotic manufacturing processes for segmented timber shells are presented and evaluated. This is achieved by comparing two newly developed construction systems for segmented plate structures: one system consisting of cross-laminated timber elements that are connected with crossing screws, and one system consisting of light-weight, hollow components with finger joints as well as bolted connections. Segmented timber shells are introduced as an emerging structural typology transitioning from applied research to the building industry, enabled by new developments in computational design and digital fabrication methods. Although the two construction systems share their underlying segmentation strategy, they differ in their joint design approach and ensuing fabrication complexity. While the first construction system can be produced with conventional machining technology in the timber industry, the second system was developed in conjunction with innovative robotic manufacturing methods. In order to evaluate the relationships and trade-offs of fabrication complexity and performance, the two systems are compared on a range of metrics, including material use, environmental impact and costs.
This paper presents a new approach to robotic fabrication in the building industry through the conceptualization, development and evaluation of a largescale, transportable and flexible robotic timber construction platform – named TIM. Novel solutions are necessary to make robotic fabrication technologies more accessible for timber construction companies. The developed robotic system is location independent and reconfigurable. It can be rapidly integrated into existing fabrication environments of typical carpentries on a per-project basis. This allows the exploitation of emerging synergies between conventional craft and specialized automation technologies and benefits both quality and productivity of the trade. We portrait how the platform enabled the effective robotic prefabrication of a complex segmented wood shell structure and discuss the fabrication system based on critical performance parameters. Further research is needed to disentangle the mutual dependencies of building-systems and respective automation technologies.
This paper discusses the digital automation workflows and co-design methods that made possible the comprehensive robotic prefabrication of the BUGA Wood Pavilion—a large-scale production case study of robotic timber construction. Latest research in architectural robotics often focuses on the advancement of singular aspects of integrated digital fabrication and computational design techniques. Few researchers discuss how a multitude of different robotic processes can come together into seamless, collaborative robotic fabrication workflows and how a high level of interaction within larger teams of computational design and robotic fabrication experts can be achieved. It will be increasingly important to discuss suitable methods for the management of robotics and computational design in construction for the successful implementation of robotic fabrication systems in the context of the industry. We present here how a co-design approach enabled the organization of computational design decisions in reciprocal feedback with the fabrication planning, simulation and robotic code generation. We demonstrate how this approach can implement direct and curated reciprocal feedback between all planning domains—paving the way for fast-paced integrative project development. Furthermore, we discuss how the modularization of computational routines simplify the management and computational control of complex robotic construction efforts on a per-project basis and open the door for the flexible reutilization of developed digital technologies across projects and building systems.
Recent development in research and practice for curved cross-laminated timber (CLT) opens up novel and interesting possibilities for applications of slender surface-active shell structures in architecture. Such typologies provide advantageous structural behaviour allowing for efficient and lightweight structures while simultaneously determine the envelope and space of a building. The high degree of prefabrication combined with a sustainable and renewable building material makes CLT an ecological and economic solution for future construction. This paper presents the design development and construction of the Urbach Tower for the Remstal Gartenschau 2019: a structure made from high curvature CLT components on a building scale. This research contribution illustrates a sophisticated integrative design to construction process emphasizing computational and structural design, fabrication and detailing for curved timber components in complex spatial structures. The authors further explore the structural potential of self-shaped curved CLT investigating the influence of curvature radius on the load-bearing behaviour of the tower structure. The Urbach Tower translates these technical developments into practice arising at the intersection of digital innovation and scientific research.
