The current trend of increasing the height limits of timber buildings makes wind-induced accelerations for occupant comfort an important design parameter. This article presents the two-step process used for the design of a 51m tall mass timber tower located in Sweden. The lateral stiffness of the tower is provided througha CLT inner core and a braced glulam post-and-beam system along its outer periphery. The structural scheme, the dynamics of high-rise timber structures, the 3D modelling assumptions to capture the global stiffness with suitable accuracy as well as the analytical state-of-the-art methods used to determine the wind-induced accelerations in the along-wind, across-wind and torsional direction at the top of the tower are presented. Through a parameter study, the sensitivity of the structure to changes in connection stiffnesses and mass distribution is assessed. Given the uncertainty inherent to the analytical methods, the calculations are validated in a second step against the acceleration response obtained from wind tunnel testing. The differences between the analytical and experimental approaches are compared and the key parameters are discussed.
