Wood Design & Building Spring/Summer 2021

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WOODCHIPS

Is Parametric Design the Answer? It depends on the question Lucas Epp, P.E., P.Eng. Three dramatic timber gridshells with clear spans up to 300 ft. at the recently opened Taiyuan Botanical Garden in Taiyuan, China.

A new era of timber architecture has arrived. From taller wood buildings to customized freeforms, use of timber as a construction material is driving change in the way we design, manufacture and construct buildings. Across all building types, mass timber is proving to be a viable new material. Mass timber production lines enable efficient “Batch Size One”

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manufacturing, allowing for mass customization perhaps more readily than other materials. Each glulam or CLT piece can be unique without adding complexity or significant extra cost to the manufacturing process. This CNC manufacturing process also creates an inbuilt instruction set for assembly, reducing time and required skill on construction sites, and


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