S-WIN: Digital production in timber construction

The French pavilion at the Expo 2015 in Milan was designed within three months by X-TU architects (Paris) and built by the timbe

The 48th S-WIN training course in Weinfelden focused on the digital production chain in timber construction. 22 speakers from six countries shared their insights with well over 140 participants during the two-day course. The conference was chaired by Katharina Lehmann (Blumer-Lehmann AG, Gossau) and Yves Weinand (Ibois, EPF Lausanne).

The strong wood cross sections of the French pavilion at the Expo 2015 in Milan (larch outside, spruce inside) were specially designed to make the structure look more impressive. Reusing them would be an option, but no decision has been made so far.

The wood industry and the timber construction sector have been using machines and robots for years to produce automated high-precision building components and wooden structures. Guidelines defined on the basis of calculations by the planners can therefore be implemented relatively easily and precisely for complex spatial structures using wood as a building material.

Free-form, non-standardised and organic constructions are currently driving a global architectural trend with regard to emblematic buildings. The use of digital technologies during planning and implementation, good craftsmanship, and industrial production provide the structural principles for this. Wood and timber products are perfectly suited to the construction of such buildings, whether as beams, free forms or panels.