This thesis explores the construction and architectural qualities of historic bank barns found in Chester county Pennsylvania. Analyzing the timber joints and adapting their characteristics for modern programmatic needs. It aims to extend the role of the heavy timber frame and reintroduce the methods of construction found in these historic handcrafted structures. Using the programmatic lens of a public library to isolate the distinct qualities of a barn including heavy and light, cellular and open, and the bent. The site of this Library is Kennett Square Pennsylvania, a rapidly expanding town in Chester county. While the town has made efforts to preserve the historic structures that surround it, the new construction has turned its back to these historic methods. Located in the center of downtown, this proposal would replace the existing inadequate public library. The program of a library offers the opportunity to educate the public and revitalize interest in timber structures. / Master of Architecture / This project analyzes the design of Pennsylvania bank barns and applies those architectural themes and details to the program of a Library. The bank barn is a significant agricultural structure that is uniquely linked to Pennsylvania's architectural history. Many of the building techniques and details of these barns haven't been utilized since advances in building technologies made them obsolete. Although, the structures that have been preserved continue to peak the interest of the public and the qualities continue to be emulated in residential projects. This thesis brings together the design of a bank barn and the program of a library located in Kennett Square Pennsylvania. The project experiments with extracting layouts and details from one type of structure and applying them to a completely different type of building. Experimenting with the qualities found in different building typologies could offer an opportunity to reinvent structures whose designs have remained stagnant.

Construction with composite materials has become increasingly popular in contemporary structural design for multi-storey residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. As a composite structure, pre-stressed heavy timber buildings offer sustainable, environmentally-friendly advantages over competing construction technologies utilising structural steel and concrete components. Research at the University of Canterbury is continually investigating the performance and behaviour of this composite heavy timber construction assembly. The following research report provides a fire resistance analysis for pre-stressed heavy timber structures that includes: • A comprehensive literature review detailing the fire resistance for pre-stressed heavy timber structural components and typical connections; and • A four-phase series of experiments with epoxy grouted steel threaded rods and proprietary mechanical fasteners to determine the fire resistance properties of steel to wood connections. Laboratory experimentation includes cold testing to determine connection performance at ambient temperature, oven testing to evaluate heating effects on steel to wood connections, cooled testing to determine the residual strength of connections in minor fires and, finally, furnace testing to generate fire resistance design and analysis equations to be utilised for steel to wood connections. Recommendations for the fire performance of connections in pre-stressed heavy timber structures are included in the report.

The controlled rocking heavy timber wall (CRHTW) is a high-performance structural solution that was first developed in New Zealand, mainly considering Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), to resist high seismic loads without sustaining structural damage. The wall responds in bending and shear to small lateral loads, and it rocks on its foundation in response to large seismic loads. In previous studies, rocking has been controlled by both energy dissipation elements and post-tensioning, and the latter returns the wall to its original position after a seismic event. The controlled rocking response avoids the need for structural repair after an earthquake, allowing for more rapid return to occupancy than in conventional structures. Whereas controlled rocking walls with supplemental energy dissipation have been studied before using LVL, this thesis proposes an adapted CRHTW in which the design and construction cost and complexity are reduced for low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions by removing supplemental energy dissipation and using cross-laminated timber (CLT) because of its positive economic and environmental potential in the North American market. Moreover, whereas previous research has focussed on direct displacement-based design procedures for CRHTWs, with limited consideration of force-based design parameters, this thesis focusses on force-based design procedures that are more common in practice. A design and analysis process is outlined for the adapted CRHTW, based on a similar methodology for controlled rocking steel braced frames. The design process includes a new proposal to minimize the design forces while still controlling peak drifts, and it also includes a new proposal for predicting the influence of the higher modes by referring to previous research on the capacity design of controlled rocking steel braced frames. Also, a numerical model is outlined, including both a baseline version and a lower-bound model based on comparison to experimental data. The numerical model is used for non-linear time-history analysis of a prototype design, confirming the expected performance of the adapted CRHTW, and the model is also used for incremental dynamic analyses of three-, six-, and nine-storey prototypes, which show a low probability of collapse. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / The controlled rocking heavy timber wall (CRHTW) is a high-performance structural solution that was developed to resist high seismic loads without sustaining structural damage. The wall responds in bending and shear to small lateral loads, and it rocks on its foundation in response to large seismic loads. In previous studies, rocking has been controlled by both energy dissipation elements and post-tensioning; the latter returns the wall to its original position after a seismic event. This controlled rocking behaviour mitigates structural damage and costly repairs. This thesis explores the value of an adapted CRHTW in which the design and construction costs and complexity are reduced for low-to-moderate seismic hazard regions by using post-tensioning but no supplemental energy dissipation. A design and analysis process is outlined; numerical analysis confirms the expected performance of the adapted CRHTW; and the system is shown to have a low probability of collapse.

Wood has been utilized by humans for thousands of years in the construction of our built environment. More recently, our expanded understanding of the material and the advancement of engineered wood have allowed us to use wood like never before. Concrete and steel, however, have emerged as the main materials used in large scale construction in the late 19th and 20th Centuries. As we are battling and searching for solutions to climate change, the importance of wood in large scale construction has increased as not only is its carbon intensity is lower than steel and concrete, but its existence stems from sequestered carbon. Yet as timber finds its way into large-scale projects, the forms it takes resemble those of concrete construction. Although this form is functional, it does not take full advantage of its capabilities or mitigate the weaknesses of wood. This thesis is concerned with exploring new options for mass timber, finding forms more appropriate to wood’s mechanical and aesthetic properties. Research began with precedent studies of existing mass timber structures to see which strategies would be useful in the project. Next a theoretical project was undertaken to design an 18-story timber-based high rise in Denver, Colorado. The design uses a variety of Engineered Wood Products (EWP) in the most effective and efficient way. The findings of this study have shown that wood, being an isotropic material, prefers to have forces run parallel to its grain. Combining multiple types of engineered wood arranged to create forces traveling parallel to their fiber grain direction created a system that was efficient, strong, and architecturally effective. The design also works to avoid subjecting wood to forces perpendicular to its wood grain, thus avoiding its weaknesses. Finally, the design uses common, stock, engineered lumber products to make the project more economical. It produced a high rise design that serves as a highly desirable model for future projects across the United States and world. This technology will not be limited to high rises and can be used in a plethora of large-scale building types. Broader implementation of this technology will help to decrease our species’ carbon footprint as our population expands and builds. More material efficient structural solutions will encourage wider spread implementation and their aesthetic qualities will increase their desirability by private and government investors alike.

The work presented in this Doctoral dissertation concerns the ability of heavy timber structures to passively reduce the fluctuations of the indoor temperature and of the indoor relative humidity, through the dynamic process of heat and moisture storage in wood. We make the hypothesis that the potential offered by the hygrothermal inertia of heavy timber structures is significant, and that it could provide a passive way of regulating the indoor climate. This ultimately could results in a decrease of the energy demand from the Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning systems. In this Thesis, the author tries to characterise and quantify the significance of the hygrothermal inertia providing by the heavy timber constructions. The experimental studies contain an in-situ measurement campaign carried out at the Vetenskapsstaden building located in Stockholm and erected in 2001. The results from the test campaign show that a heavy timber construction may contribute to buffer the indoor temperature. A direct quantification of the moisture stored in the wood structure is measured regarding the year-to-year indoor humidity fluctuations. It was however hardly possible to directly quantify the moisture storage potential offered by the structure regarding the day-to-day indoor relative humidity fluctuations because of the low sensitivity of the measuring technique used. In regard to the limitations noticed during the in-situ measurements, laboratory measurements were launched to develop new methods to determine the day-to-day hygric performances of wood exposed indoor. A new method based on the Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology was developed and is intended to provide information about the Moisture Buffer Value measured according to a NORDTEST protocol, and about the moisture distribution in wood with high spatial resolution. The Moisture Buffer Value of untreated Scots pine measured with this method is in accordance with the gravimetric method provided by the NORDTEST protocol. The Moisture Buffer Value of coated Scots pine was also investigated and it is normally assumed that any coatings will decrease the Moisture Buffering Capacity of the structure. The results show however that for specific coating such as waterborne alkali silicate coating, the Moisture Buffering Capacity of the structure may on the contrary be improved. At last, numerical simulations were carried out. They were based upon the extension of a modular simulation environment IDA ICE 3.0, with the implementation of a specific model for heat and moisture transport in a wood. The results obtained pinpoint the highly synergetic effects between the indoor moisture loads, the ventilation rate, the outdoor climate and the moisture interactions with the structure. The outcomes also show that the Moisture Buffering Capacity of a heavy timber structure is appreciable. The structure is able to even out substantially the day-to-day indoor relative humidity fluctuations for a certain range of ventilation rate. / QC 20100825

This master's thesis deals with design of the timber structure four-storey building. Plan dimensions of the hall are 20 x 30 m. The structure is designed for the Třebíč. The structure is designed as a heavy timber frame. The axial distance of arches is 5 m. The timber structure is placed between the reinforced concrete towers.