Fields of Expertise

Wood Building and Design

 

The expanding timber construction sector is in need of new technological and design solutions. The modern 3-dimensional planning methods available today pose new challenges to manufacturing and the interface with timber production, thus opening up new areas of research.

The Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering has been part of Styria's timber cluster since 2015, cooperating with a range of partners in science and industry. The timber academy, which the Institute has run together with Pro Holz Steiermark since 2014, focuses on various areas of research.

As well as sustainable building and architectural expertise, they include the advantages offered by wood such as greater flexibility of design solutions, and their impact on costs and building management. This also involves new ways of modular construction, as well as examining new and more flexible joining methods used on both the inside and outside of buildings.

Another increasingly relevant research focus is the use of 3-dimensional planning methods for the interdisciplinary planning of timber structures using Building Information Modelling (BIM), and their interface with CNC-based manufacturing of prefabricated construction elements.

Other popular topics include the use of timber in existing buildings and their suitability for recycling and reuse. The use of prefabricated timber construction elements in an international context is essential to ensure they are suitable for export to, and use in, different climatic regions.