Digital Timber Construction

Construction professionals – such as architects, engineers, contractors, project managers, timber manufacturers, and carpenters – wanting to learn innovative computational workflows for designing and building timber structures.

The course will be given in English.

Requirements:
A basic knowledge of Computer-Aided Design (CAD), ideally on Rhinoceros 6 or 7, is required. For those not having this skill, it is possible to train themselves in the Rhino/Grasshopper environment through online resources, made available two weeks before the start of the course.

The construction industry must make a drastic change in its model to meet current environmental requirements and the challenge of climate change. Bio-based materials, mainly via wood construction, are part of the answer. Applications are broad : new buildings to meet new needs, densification of city centers via elevations to avoid urban sprawl, and renovation to maintain and upgrade the existing built environment.

Design and construction methods with wood have considerably evolved in the recent years. What are the new norms and standards ? What are the advantages to build with timber engineered products ? How to leverage technology and digital tools to create innovative and sustainable timber projects ?

• Understand the current trends and challenges for the timber construction industry
• Learn advanced CAD methods for the design of standard and bespoke timber structures
• Experiment with laser scanning and point clouds to create structures out of round wood
• Be able to use innovative computational tools to boost your efficiency and creativity from design to construction
• Learn how to integrate fabrication, assembly, and structural engineering constraints in mass timber construction projects

• Certificate of achievement with 1 ECTS credit if the candidate passes the examination (presentation of personal projects) that takes place at the end of the course.

Consult the regulations for the award of ECTS credits in the framework of a non-certifying programme (in French) as well as the specific award conditions for the course Digital Timber Construction

PRIOR TO THE COURSE : 3D MODELING AND VISUAL SCRIPTING

• Access to a pedagogical web platform to get familiar with the Rhino/Grasshopper environment
  This online upgrade (a few hours of training to be done individually) is mandatory for participants who don’t have basic knowledge of Rhinoceros 6 or 7. It is optional for others.

DAY 1 : DESIGNING AND BUILDING WITH WOOD IN THE DIGITAL ERA

• State of the art of timber construction : historical review and new perspectives
• Introduction to IBOIS research : digital tools for new design and construction methods
• Technical tour: Commented visit of the Saint-Loup chapel and the Vidy theater

DAY 2 : RECIPROCAL GRIDSHELLS WITH ROUNDWOOD – FROM COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN TO DIGITAL FABRICATION

• Designing structures from non-standard timber elements using point clouds and meshes
• 3D modeling complex timber joints and simulating fabrication toolpath
• Applied case-study : Designing a timber structure from a library of scanned tree trunks

DAY 3 : PANELIZED TIMBER STRUCTURES – A COLLABORATIVE WORKFLOW FOR ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS

• Integrating fabrication and assembly considerations into the design of timber plate structures
• Integrating structural engineering considerations into the design of timber plate structures
• Applied exercise : Designing a timber plate structures while integrating construction constraints

DAY 4 : COURSE CONCLUSION – DEMONSTRATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

• Workflow demonstration from parametric design to digital fabrication with a 5-axis CNC
• Workflow demonstration from parametric design to automated assembly with an industrial robotic arm
• Presentation of the outcomes of the workshop by the participants, discussion with the speakers

• Laboratory for Timber Constructions (IBOIS), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

Program Director

• Prof. Dr. Yves Weinand, Director of the laboratory for timber constructions, IBOIS, EPFL ; Principal Investigator at the NCCR Digital Fabrication

Program Coordinator

• Dr. Nicolas Rogeau, Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer, IBOIS, EPFL ; Expert in computational design and robotic assembly

Instructors

• Prof. Dr. Yves Weinand, Director of IBOIS, EPFL ; Principal Investigator at the NCCR Digital Fabrication
• Prof. Dr. Aryan Rezaei Rad, Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto ; Expert in timber engineering and computational simulations
• Dr. Petras Vestartas, Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer, IBOIS, EPFL ; Expert in computational design and digital fabrication
• Dr. Nicolas Rogeau, Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer, IBOIS, EPFL ; Expert in computational design and robotic assembly

Dates and schedule

4-day course:

• Friday June 23, 2023
• Saturday June 24, 2023
• Friday June 30, 2023
• Saturday July 1, 2023

From 8.30 am to 5.30 pm

Course venue

EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

Course fee

1900.- Swiss Francs *

* based on the price of the last edition

10% special discount **:

• for contributing members of EPFL Alumni
• if more than one participant from the same company

** The discounts are not cumulative.

Registration deadline

Registration closed

Be alerted as soon as registration opens for the next edition of this course, register on our Stay Informed platform.