TIMBER STRUCTURES

FOR HIGH RISE BUILDINGS

Armasu Mara
Building Structures class
 Main Points
Wood as a building material
1 General points and modern approach

Engineered wood
2 History. How it is made. Different types or engineered wood

Characteristics and junctions

3 Junctions between elements. Protection against hazardous factors

Examples and case studies

4 What and how it has already been made. What the future holds
Wood as a building material
Wood as a building material
Wood is a versatile material and the only renewable construction material. As an organic material,
produced by a large number of woody plants, it is quite variable in properties. Properties are also
affected by the presence of imperfections such as knots and pitch pockets.
Wood has three cardinal directions related
to the trunk of the tree. Parallel to the long
axis of the stem is called the longitudinal (L)
direction. The other two, radial (R) and
tangential (T), are transverse to the stem of
the tree and can be easily seen on the end of
a log. This is critical information, as wood
properties vary according to grain
orientation.

Wood products are more stable when used

against a force applied parallel to the grain. This
makes wood susceptible to deformation when the
element is not correctly oriented to the forces,
creating limitation in the proportion of the
elements.
Wooden structures .

traditional building systems

Wooden structures are usually characterized by a combination of different components
that together deliver the best possible load-bearing capacity, thermal, acoustic and
moisture insulation, fire resistance and a long service life.

Traditional timber building systems usually use the post and beam
system. Connection between elements is done by cutting a juncture in
the elements and connect them by nails

For load bearing walls, the element is the

result of logs placed on top or each other to
create the plane of the wall
Modern building systems
Contemporary timber building use metallic connectors, making sure that the connection
between element is more stable for longer periods of time. New laminated products allow
for constructing a prefabricated wall regardless of size and without the need for individual
elements, the wall can the done in one homogeneous sheet.

Metal connectors Cross-laminated timber walls

 Benefits to using wood in construction
• Wood is 'renewable' when responsibly sourced. It is durable, reusable
and recyclable
• Itmanufacturing
is lightweight, easily worked, very adaptable to offsite
and generally cheaper than other materials. Ease of
manufacturing, accuracy of the assembly
• Wood presents good thermal and acoustic insulation capability
• Health benefits due its subjective comfort.
• Timber used internally provides a healthier environment for occupants as
it helps maintain a better relative humidity
• Structural stability and efficiency. Timber has higher structural
efficiency as carried load per unit weight compared to reinforced concrete
and steel structures.
• Timber production strengthens rural development and industry.
• Better fire resistance due to low thermal conductivity
Wood in comparison to other materials
Environmental concern
Increasing the proportion of wood in
construction can facilitate a reduction in the use
of other construction materials, such as
concrete, steel and brick. These construction
materials don’t come from renewable raw
materials, they require a great deal of energy for
their production and they entail higher
emissions of carbon dioxide.
Wood in comparison to other materials
Cost issues

Even though the laminated wood is

regarded as an expensive material,
in high rise buildings, the costs are
comparable or even lower than
those of using concrete. Thus, the
higher the building, the more cost
efficient it is to build it using wood.
Along with the environmental
benefits of switching from concrete
to timber, the dropping costs make
wood a good alternative for high rise
buildings.
Engineered wood
History of laminated wood
Laminate is a product created by bonding two or more layers of thin material
together to form a thicker, stronger material.
• Early Modern Era
The English and French used a form of laminate using layers of hardwood in
furniture making in the 17th and 18th centuries. Russia used a similar process in the
19th century. All of these early laminates were used to make household items
such as cabinets, desk tops, chests and doors. Construction-grade laminates such
as plywood, made from softwood, did not appear until the 20th century.
• Patent
John K. Mayo of New York City was issued a patent for plywood on December 26,
1865. A reissue of Mayo's patent, dated August 18, 1868, described the invention as
"cementing or otherwise fastening together a number of these scales of sheets,
with the grain of the successive pieces, or some of them, running crosswise or
diversely from that of the others." Apparently, Mayo never made money on his
patents.
History of laminated wood
• Production Begins
In 1905, at a World's Fair in Portland, Oregon, the Portland Manufacturing Co.
showcased wood panels laminated from a variety of softwoods from the Pacific
Northwest. The product, called three-ply veneer work, was created using paint
brushes to spread the glue and house jacks to press the pieces together. By 1907,
the company installed an automatic glue spreader and sectional hand press to
produce 420 panels a day.
• New Uses
Until 1920, laminates were used exclusively for door panels. That year, Elliot Bay
Plywood in Seattle began selling plywood to car manufacturers for use on running
boards. The lack of waterproof adhesives in plywood led to running boards made of
metal by the 1930s. In 1934, Dr. James Nevin, a chemist working for Harbor Plywood
Corp. in Aberdeen, Washington, formulated a waterproof adhesive for the lamination
process.
History of laminated wood
• Plywood Manufacturers Organize
In 1933, the various plywood companies operating in the Pacific Northwest
organized to form the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. Uniform standards were
devised for interior and exterior grade plywood, and its use in construction before,
during and after World War Two boomed. In the late 1950s and early 1960s,
Georgia-Pacific Corp. began making plywood using southern pine. In 1964, the
Douglas Fir Plywood Association changed its name to the American Plywood
Association.
• Engineered Wood Products
In the late 1970s and early 1980s lamination began to produce oriented strand
board. Plywood is made by laminating solid sheets of veneer. Oriented strand board
is made of small wood strands glued together in cross-laminated layers. Other
engineered wood products using lamination available today are wood I-joists,
laminated veneer lumber, glued-laminated timber and oriented strand lumber. All of
these laminated products offer strength, performance and the conservation of forest
resources.
 Engineered timber
Generalities
Most used products today for the construction of high-rise buildings are CLT -
cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber, also called glulam. Both
are based on the process of laminating wood together to form a stronger, more
predictable materials, with better behavior on both directions (as traditional wood
is sensitive on the radial direction) without limitation in widespan.
CLT is distinct to glued laminated timber, a product with all laminations orientated
in the same way.
 Engineered timber
CLT

CLT - Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a wood panel product made from

gluing layers of solid-sawn lumber together. Each layer of boards is oriented
perpendicular to adjacent layers and glued on the wide faces of each board,
usually in a symmetric way so that the outer layers have the same orientation.
An odd number of layers is most common, but there are configurations with
even numbers as well (which are then arranged to give a symmetric
configuration). Regular timber is an anisotropic material, meaning that the
physical properties change depending on the direction at which the force is
applied. By gluing layers of wood at perpendicular angles, the panel is able to
achieve better structural rigidity in both directions.
 Engineered timber
GLULAM

Glued laminated timber, also called glulam, is a type of

structural engineered wood product comprising a number of layers
of dimensioned lumber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant
structural adhesives. By laminating a number of smaller pieces of lumber, a
single large, strong, structural member is manufactured from smaller pieces.
These structural members are used as vertical columns or horizontal beams,
as well as curved, arched shapes. Glulam is readily produced in curved
shapes and it is available in a range of species and appearance
characteristics to meet varied end-use requirements. Connections are usually
made with bolts or plain steel dowels and steel plates.
Characteristics and junctions
Columns and concrete slab
Beams and columns
 Traditional wood and engineered wood
Differences between traditional timber and the modern engineered product

• Limitation due to size: normal wood is limited in terms of how long the elements
can be produced; however by laminating, beams can achieve any desirable shape
and size.

• Stability: as timber usually has better load bearing capacities on the direction
parallel to the main fibers, by connecting smaller wood parts in perpendicular
direction, the over-all stability is improved. This also reduces the risk of defects in
the wood structure, meaning lower costs (lamination can use lower quality materials
in addition to the more expensive ones).

• Less variability: because it is a highly controlled and regulated process all

laminated wood pieces have constant properties, equal standards and their
properties do not change from the ones indicated by the producer

• Less time on the site: because a lot can be done in the factory, construction time is
mostly reduces and installing an engineered timber structure is more simplified than
traditional ones which required special attention to details and bindings.
 Comparison between engineered wood and
raw wood (MPa)
28 28 28.5
30
25 22.3 22.3
20
15
10 6.7
2.4 2.6 3.2 3
5
0
Bending Tension parallel to Compression Compression Shear
grain parallel to grain perpendicular to parallel
grain to grain
Glued-laminated Timber (GL 28h) Wood (Spruce)
Modulus of Elasticity
(MPa) This study high-lights the differences in the physical
10400 properties of the two materials: wood and glued -
10200
10000 laminated timber. Although the base component is
9800 the same, there are noticeable differences due to
9600
Modulus of the lamination process.
elasticity
Glugam GL28 Spruce
Timber for high-rise buildings
Wood is a competitive option for tall buildings because it allows for:
Faster and safer on-site construction. Prefabricated sections can be manufactured
off site, shipped to the project and then assembled on site, significantly shortening
project timelines and improving safety and accuracy.
Tight envelopes. Mass timber components are fabricated with high levels of precision
to ensure a tight fit. Together with wood’s natural insulating properties, mass timber
construction offers strong thermal performance, which is critical for tall buildings.
Excellent fire resistance. Large wood slabs char on the outside, protecting their inner
structure, which is essential to occupant and first-responder safety in wood buildings,
particularly those with multiple stories, during a fire event.
Structural and seismic performance. Wood’s strength-to-weight ratio is competitive
with steel, but it weighs considerably less, reducing the load on the foundation during
seismic events and making for a resilient and safe structure.
Efficient footprints. Wood structural systems have high building-volume-to-surface-
area ratios, allowing for spacious interiors even with space constraints that typically
require tall, compact designs.
 Fire protection
When exposed to fire, the outer layers of thick mass timber members char to
provide natural protection against fire penetration. The char layer insulates the
wood, slowing combustion and delaying the rate at which heat moves into the
layers of wood below. Those areas of the wood not exposed to heat or fire can
retain full strength, allowing the member to continue to provide significant structural
capacity for the building while it is evacuated. Mass timber’s density means there
are no cracks for air or fire to enter, ensuring that the fire’s impact on the wood is
gradual and predictable
Methods of protection against fire: Steel plates and dowels in
• Firewalls the connections are
• Gypsum encapsulation embedded deep into the
• Automatic sprinklers timber (85+ mm). Gaps
• Fire detectors and evacuation and slots between beams,
columns and plates will be
plans
fitted with an intumescent
• Fire department consultation and fire strip.
approval
The fire design is strengthened by burnout
tests that were performed in 2016 at SP
Firetech in Trondheim, Norway. In this test
large glulam columns were put in a furnace
to undergo an ISO-fire for 90 minutes. When
the burners were shut off the glulam
continued to char a little more. After several
hours the temperature in all columns were
declining and the burning stopped. This
proves that the large glulam columns will
self-extinguish and prevent a building from
collapse.
Experiments:
In a fire test, a 7-inch-thick wall
comprising CLT with
5/8-inch type X gypsum lasted 3 hours
and 6 minutes. That’s one hour longer
than code requirements.
Examples and case studies
 Building tall
Top tallest timber buildings up to date
FORTÉ THE TREE
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA BERGEN, NORWAY
32.3 METRES 49 METRES
Cross laminated timber Cross laminated timber and glulam
2012 2015

THE CUBE BROCK COMMONS

LONDON, UK VANCOUVER, CANADA
33 METRES 53 METRES
Cross laminated timber with steel concrete podium and lift cores, and cross-
reinforcement laminated timber floors and walls held up by
2015 glulam timber columns
2017

DALSTON LANE
LONDON, UK
33 METRES
Cross laminated timber and glulam
2016
Case study: Vancouver's Brock Commons

Designed by Acton ostry architects,

the structure is a hybrid system
comprising CLT floor slabs, glulam
columns, steel connectors, and
concrete cores. Completed in 2017
the building stands at a total height of
53 meters
Brock Commons was completed
within a mere 70 days after the
prefabricated components were ready
for assembly – considerably shorter
than the amount of time it would have
taken to complete a concrete building
of the same size.
By week 5 the construction was going at a pace of 2 floors per week. Placing one CLT panel
only took about 12 minutes
Floor plan assembly

Arrangement of prefabricated floor panels

Time-lapse of construction
Construction details

Columns to concrete transfer slab

A hollow structural section steel base
with top and bottom plates is anchored
to the second-floor concrete transfer
slab by cast-in-place bolts and is
levelled with grout and levelling nuts.
Threaded steel rods are glued into the
GLT/PSL column during fabrication and
are bolted to the top steel plate.
Column to column and column to CLT panel
A round hollow structural section is welded to a steel plate embedded at the top and the bottom of
each column, by means of threaded rods epoxied into the column. The connection assemblies at
the base of each column have a smaller-diameter hollow structural section that fits into the one at
the top of the lower column. The CLT panels rest on top of the lower columns and are bolted to the
steel plates by four threaded rods. This type of connection allows vertical load to be transferred
directly from column to column, while supporting the vertical and shear loads of the CLT panels.
CLT panel to concrete core Panel-to-core connections – The CLT
panels are supported by and screwed to a
steel angle that is welded to a steel plate
anchored to the concrete core. This
connection accommodates the transfer of
both vertical and shear forces at the
connection point and the differential
settlement between the wood and
concrete portions of the structure. Drag
straps – Steel drag straps are used to
transfer lateral loads from the floors to the
cores. The straps are screwed to the top
of the CLT panels and are welded to
faceplates that are bolted to the concrete
cores. The size of the drag straps varies
based on a strap’s position within the
building, with larger plates used on
higher floors. Similar drag-strap details
are also employed along the perimeter of
the building to connect the exterior edge
of the CLT panels back to the concrete
cores.
GLT column to steel roof
Steel roof beams are welded to a round hollow structural section that is run through by two 19-mm
bolts. The hollow structural section is welded to a bottom plate bolted to the GLT columns by
hreaded rods that are glued in during prefabrication.
 What is next?
Japan

• Japanese timber company Sumitomo Forestry has revealed plans for the
world's tallest wooden building in Tokyo, a 350-metre skyscraper that would
also be the country's highest
Sumitomo Forestry is proposing the 70-storey hybrid timber skyscraper
to mark the company's 350th anniversary in 2041.
Named W350, the ambitious tower would be almost four times higher than
the world's current tallest timber building – the 18-storey Brock Commons
Student Residence in Vancouver, Canada.
At 350 meters, the skyscraper designed by Sumitomo's Tsukuba Research
Laboratory in collaboration with Tokyo practice Nikken Sekkei, would also b
ecome Japan's tallest building.

Timber is expected to make up 90 per cent of the hybrid structure, wit

h 185,000 cubic meters of wood planned to be used in its construction.
The building would use a "braced tube structure" with columns and beams
made from steel and timber, supplemented by additional diagonal steel bra
ces.
The multi-use tower containing a hotel, residential units, offices, and shops
would be wrapped in large balconies covered in plants.
What is next?
Norway

• "The world's tallest wooden house!" reads a huge poster on the side of a building under
construction in the Norwegian municipality of Brummundal.
• The house doesn't have any scaffolding; cranes and an outdoor elevator are used to transport
the building material to where it's needed. The wood is sourced from Norwegian forests.
• When it's finished in March 2019, the wooden house will be 81 meters tall, and will have 18
stories with 27 apartments that ranging from 67 to 149 square meters as well as a swimming
pool, a hotel, offices and restaurants.
 What is next?
Austria

• Construction of the new 84-meter, 24-storey high 'HoHo Tower' in Vienna, Austria - set
to be the world's tallest timber building - has been underway for over a year now.
• Around 76 percent of the structure will be constructed from wood. Once finished,
Hoho Wien will house a hotel, apartments, a restaurant, a wellness centre and offices.
 What is next?
Sweden

• Named Kulturhus i Skellefteå, the 19-storey structure will contain a series of

cultural facilities at its base and 16 hotel floors above, reaching a height of 76
meters. It is set to be completed in 2019.
• White Arkitekter plans to realize the building using two types of hybrid constructi
on system, rather than an entirely timber frame. The first brings together wood
and steel, while the other pairs wooden modules with concrete slabs.
In the foyer, 21-metre-long beams will span the full length of the
space without the need for supporting columns. Wooden struts placed
perpendicular to the beams will be strengthened by a network of steel
trusses.
Scandinavian firm CF Møller has
revealed proposals that could see the
world's tallest timber-framed building
constructed in Stockholm.
As one of three shortlisted proposals in
a housing design competition, the 34-
storey Wooden Skyscraper is
presented by architect CF Møller,
architect Dinell Johansson and
consultant Tyréns as a vision of future
housing that would be cheaper, easier
and more sustainable than typical steel
and concrete constructions.
Designed to be completed in
2023. The 34-storey building will
exceed the height of all other
timber structures ever built.