Abstract
Numerous countries across the globe have witnessed the recent decades’ trend of multi-storey timber buildings on the rise, owing to advances in engineering sciences and timber construction technologies. Despite the growth and numerous advantages of timber construction, the global scale of multi-storey timber construction is still relatively low compared to reinforced concrete and steel construction. One of the reasons for a lower share of high-rise timber buildings lies in the complexity of their design, where the architectural design, the selection of a suitable structural system, and the energy efficiency concept strongly depend on the specific features of the location, particularly climate conditions, wind exposure, and seismic hazard. The aforementioned shows the need for a comprehensive study on existing multi-storey timber buildings, which correspond to the boundary conditions in a certain environment, to determine the suitability of such a construction in view of its adjustment to local contexts. Apart from exposing the problems and advantages of such construction, the current paper provides a brief overview of high-rise timber buildings in Europe. Moreover, it addresses the complexity of the design approach to multi-storey timber buildings in general. The second part of the paper highlights the importance of synthesising the architectural, energy, and structural solutions through a detailed analysis of three selected case studies. The findings of the paper provide an expanded view of knowledge of the design of tall timber buildings, which can significantly contribute to a greater and better exploitation of the potential of timber construction in Europe and elsewhere.
Highlights
Numerous countries across the globe have witnessed the recent decades’ trend of prefabricated buildings on the rise, with a significant increase in the construction of highrise timber buildings (HRTB) and multi-storey timber buildings (MSTB)
One of the reasons for a lower share of high-rise timber buildings lies in the complexity of their design, where the architectural design, the selection of a suitable structural system, and the energy efficiency concept strongly depend on the specific features of the location, climate conditions, wind exposure, and seismic hazard
All the selected cases are further analysed in depth from the architectural, energy, and structural perspectives, which points out the importance of the comprehensive design consideration of the tallest timber buildings in Europe constructed in different climatic conditions
Summary
Numerous countries across the globe have witnessed the recent decades’ trend of prefabricated buildings on the rise, with a significant increase in the construction of highrise timber buildings (HRTB) and multi-storey timber buildings (MSTB). A number of scientific study authors point to certain risks arising from the growing trend of high-rise timber buildings, among which are seismic resistance [8], fire resistance [9,10], and acoustics [11,12]. They appeal for the introduction of sustainable forestry policies [13]. The current study examines the prevalence and adaptability of the European MSTB stock to local contexts, taking into account the boundary conditions of different examined locations in Europe with the aim to expose its advantages, risks, and potentials
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