Gregor Neubauer

Abstract

The Wangen Tower, designed for the Landesgartenschau 2024 in Wangen im Allgäu, Germany, exemplifies the innovative potential of advanced timber architecture and engineering. Rising to aheight of 22.5 meters, it is the world´s first publicly accessible structure to utilize self-shaped cross-laminated timber (CLT) components. The groundbreaking project harnesses wood's hygroscopic properties to achieve complex curved geometries through passive self-shaping during drying, offering the potential to reduce material waste and energy consumption compared to conventional construction methods. The hyperbolic timber shell structure achieves an exceptional height -to-wall thickness ratio of 173:1, efficiently bearing all significant loads, including wind forces. The project intrgrated material-aware computational desin, digital fabrication, and expert craftmanship with a co-design framework to foster interdidicilpinary collaboration throughout its development. Tailored structural connections minimized visible metal fasteners, enhancing the seamless timber aesthetic of the interior. Aditionally, prefabrication strategies streamlined on-site assembly while ensuring precission and efficiency. The tower´s dictinctive twisting geometry not only provides structural stability but also establishes a striking architectural landmark that creates a visual connection with it´s natural surroundings. By overcoming stringent engineering and regulatory challenges - including achieving structural certification - the Wangen Tower advances self-shaped timber technology from experimental prototypes to scalable applications. Ultimatel, by combining scientific research with innovative design and construction methodologies, this project broadens the architectural applications of advanced timber technologies.

Abstract

This paper discusses the architectural design potentials of a novel hollow timber slab building system for flexible and adaptive multi-storey timber building typologies. Current timber building systems are defined by their standardized nature, which limits most structures to unidirectional, rigid grids and limits designs to rectilinear layouts. At the same time, recent developments in computational design and digital fabrication open new possibilities to overcome these limitations. In this paper we present four building design applications of a new multi-directional slab building system that allows for a greater level of spatial flexibility and adaptability with free column placement and a tuned network of internal shear webs. These examples expand on previous work through the co-development of building design, skin, building system, and building service integration strategies for a long lifespan and changeable building program. The design applications illustrate open, reprogrammable floor plates that can support three different program states: office, residential, and mixed-use. Furthermore, the novel conceptual approaches to building service integration and the resulting slabs are compared to approaches more common in mass timber construction. Finally, we contextualize the study with related developments and discuss how computational and integrated design thinking could lead to a greater level of design freedom in timber construction and an increased applicability to more complex site conditions than in conventional masstimber construction