Multi-Story Timber-Only Structures design coupling Graphic Statics with Robotic Fabrication: A case study of DigitalFUTURES 2024 Timber Pavilion
(2026) 30th CAADRIA Conference — Location: Tokyo, (22.March.2026)
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- Abstract
- Conventional multi-story timber buildings often adopt a grid layout with uniformly aligned columns across floors, simplifying design and construction but limiting spatial flexibility and adaptability. To overcome these constraints, this research proposes a novel timber-only frame structure system that enables vertical column disalignment across floors. This approach enhances adaptability to diverse spatial requirements and allows for varied floor layouts. The proposed design method integrates graphic statics with robotic construction technology. Graphic statics is used to optimize global structural efficiency and define timber joint configurations, while robotic fabrication addresses the customization needs of joints for complex structural layouts. The process begins with a predefined multi-story spatial volume, where variations between upper and lower floors introduce column misalignments managed through this design approach. To validate the method, a 9.4-meter-high, three-story timber-only tower was constructed to validate the feasibility of the workflow from form- finding, structural analysis, joint design to robotic fabrication. The system can significantly improve the spatial flexibility and structural efficiency, paving the way for innovative applications of timber-only frame structures in modern multi-story construction.
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Citations
Jiang, X., Chai, H., Gao, T., Yu, J., Rasneur, S., Zastavni, D., & Yuan, P. F. (2026). Multi-Story Timber-Only Structures design coupling Graphic Statics with Robotic Fabrication: A case study of DigitalFUTURES 2024 Timber Pavilion. Proceedings of the 30th CAADRIA Conference, Tokyo, 22-29 March 2025, Volume 3, pp. 387–396. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/271679