From Trees to Skyscrapers: Holistic Review of the Advances and Limitations of Multi-Storey Timber Buildings

High-rise residential timber buildings (≥8 stories) are an emerging and promising domain, primarily owing to their capacity to deliver notable environmental and economic benefits over the entire span of their existence. However, it is worth noting that the current body of scholarly work falls short in providing a thorough examination of the key aspects related to architectural and structural design for these environmentally sustainable towers. In an effort to bridge this knowledge gap and deepen our comprehension of the evolving worldwide trends, this research delved into data collected from 55 case studies conducted across the globe. The primary findings unveiled the following: (1) Europe, particularly Nordic countries, stood out as the region boasting the highest number of high-rise residential timber buildings, with North America and the United Kingdom following suit; (2) central cores were the prevailing choice for the core configuration, with the peripheral type following as the second most common option; (3) prismatic forms were the most commonly favored design choices; (4) widespread prevalence of employing pure timber was observed, followed by timber and concrete composite combinations; and (5) structural systems were predominantly characterized by the utilization of shear walled frame and shear wall systems. This research aims to reveal the current attributes of high-rise residential timber buildings, with the expectation that it will offer architects valuable knowledge to assist and steer them in planning and implementing forthcoming sustainable projects within this domain.

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Rise Residential Timber Buildings: Emerging Architectural and Structural Design Trends

Ilgın

2023

“…Guidelines cited in Table 3 are being designed to satisfy high performance expectations, as these high-rise examples are being seen by [85] as the next generation of natural structures. In addition, studies are being proposed to understand applications and limitations [86][87][88][89][90][91], and books have been written to assist developers and professionals with efficient design and construction using wood products [92,93]. From the moment that Brazil needs complete engineering guidance for modern mass timber structures [24], especially for tall buildings, adequate documents are still required.…”

Section: First and Second Queries: Relations And Categories About Con...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Timber Construction Regulations in Brazil: A Perspective from Its National Industry of Timber Houses

De Araujo,

Vasconcelos,

Morales

et al. 2023

Codes of practices and standards for products and activities are available regulations for global sectors, although they are dedicated to national scopes such as civil construction in Brazil. These regulations align with industry compliance as they establish mandatory or voluntary issues. Brazilian developers must properly regard construction regulations, which mostly dedicated to concrete and steel buildings but rarely to timber buildings. Through construction regulations, the production of timber buildings can become more standardized and scalable to ensure the steady quality of finished products. From this perspective, this paper evaluated Brazil’s timber housing production sector’s utilization and access to procedures, standards, guidelines, certifications, and seals. A standardized questionnaire was designed and refined to analyze this local perspective. Face-to-face interviews with sampled companies were conducted using a randomized sampling procedure. The margin of error was obtained using significant sampling of this sector. The findings evinced that most Brazilian developers underuse timber building regulations in their production and management practices and still need to familiarize themselves with this important subject. The codes must establish requirements for each timber construction technique to represent different technologies and also specify particularities and added performances to suit varied projects.

“…Ilgın et al [39] analyzed data from 13 case studies of tall residential timber buildings, finding that central cores and prismatic shapes with straight-line layouts were favored architectural designs, pure timber construction was preferred over hybrid methods, and the shear wall system was the most frequently used structural system. González-Retamal et al [40] conducted a comprehensive review of over 250 scholarly articles, categorizing advancements and limitations in multi-story wooden structures based on sustainability, design, and engineering sciences. Most papers focused on engineering disciplines, with 25% addressing sustainability and 5% addressing collaborative design aspects.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Main Architectural and Structural Design Considerations in Tall Timber Buildings

Ilgın

2023

Tall timber buildings represent an emerging and highly promising sector due to their potential to yield significant environmental and economic advantages throughout their entire life cycles. Nonetheless, the existing body of literature lacks a comprehensive exploration of the primary architectural and structural design considerations for such sustainable towers. To address this gap and to enhance our understanding of emerging global trends, this study scrutinized data from 49 tall timber building case studies from around the world. The key findings revealed the following: (1) Europe stood out as the region boasting the highest number of tall timber buildings, with North America and Australia following behind; (2) residential applications were the most preferred function for tall timber buildings; (3) central cores were the predominant choice for core configuration; (4) prismatic forms were the most prevalent design preferences; (5) composite materials were notably widespread, with timber and concrete combinations being the most prominent; (6) structural systems primarily featured shear–frame systems, especially shear-walled frames. By unveiling these contemporary characteristics of tall timber buildings, this research is expected to provide valuable insights to architects, aiding and guiding them in the design and execution of future sustainable projects in this field.