Design of Integrally-Attached Timber Plate Structures

Author: Yves Weinand

This outlines a new design methodology for digitally fabricated spatial timber plate structures, presented with examples from recent construction projects, relying on integral mechanical attachment whereby the connection between timber plates is established solely through geometric manipulation.

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Summary

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Design of Integrally-Attached Timber Plate Structures outlines a new design methodology for digitally fabricated spatial timber plate structures, presented with examples from recent construction projects. It proposes an innovative and sustainable design methodology, algorithmic geometry processing, structural optimization, and digital fabrication; technology transfer and construction are formulated and widely discussed.

The methodology relies on integral mechanical attachment whereby the connection between timber plates is established solely through geometric manipulation, without additional connectors, such as nails, screws, dowels, adhesives, or welding. The transdisciplinary design framework for spatial timber plate structures brings together digital architecture, computer science, and structural engineering, covering parametric modeling and architectural computational design, geometry exploration, the digital fabrication assembly of engineered timber panels, numerical simulations, mechanical characterization, design optimization, and performance improvement.

The method is demonstrated through different prototypes, physical models, and three build examples, focusing specifically on the design of the timber-plate roof structure of 23 large span arches called the Annen Headquarters in Luxembourg. This is useful for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector and shows how new structural optimization processes can be reinvented through geometrical adaptions to control global and local geometries of complex structures. This text is ideal for structural engineering professionals and architects in both industry and academia, and construction companies.

About the Author

Yves Weinand is an Associate Professor and Laboratory Director for Timber Construction (IBOIS) at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He is the founder of Yves Weinand Architects in Lausanne and Bureau d’études Weinand in Liège, Belgium. Yves Weinand’s fundamental research and professional activities investigate the technical possibilities of timber and biobased materials in building technology and construction. Through new innovative approaches and transdisciplinary design methodology, his research ambition is to develop a new generation of renewable and ecological construction.