Dissertation

Interim Report
University of Westminster Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
Department of Property and Construction

David Thuo W239901DE

27.11.2018
Contents
Title.............................................................................................................................................................3
Aim.............................................................................................................................................................3
Objectives...................................................................................................................................................3
Literary Review...........................................................................................................................................4
Timber Construction...............................................................................................................................4
Timber Tower Construction....................................................................................................................5
Fire Safety & Fire Design........................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography............................................................................................................................................... 9
Title
With improved methods of timber component design, engineering and implementation are tall
timber buildings more of less safe in the event of a fire that a steel structure of a similar size?

Aim
To provide professional guidelines to building designers wanting to develop and build tall timber
structures that perform well in the event of a fire.

Objectives
 To assess the feasibility of tall towers built from timber and how they can fit into and
perform in today’s built environment.
 To examine how tall buildings perform in the event of a fire though the analysis of real
world examples.
 To examine the performance of various engineered timber products and how they
perform in the event of a fire.
 To evaluate fire design taking into account the specific details of the performance of
engineered timber products in the event of a fire.
Literary Review
Timber Construction

‘Since before recorded history mankind has used timber for construction and, in “tree rich” rural societies,
timber has remained a primary construction material ever since.’ (Smith and Snow, 2008, p504). Smith
and Snow go on to explain that timber has been used as the primary construction material due to its
excellent mechanical properties, that it is light weight and easy to shape. The historical use of timber has
been documented elsewhere; ‘Trees, and their derivative products, have been used by societies around
the world for thousands of years.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p333). Ramage et al go on to agree on the
strength of timber as a construction material. ‘While there are limitless possible designs, and
construction is based on both engineering and cultural practice, timber has a high strength to weight
ratio, and is used most efficiently in structures where it is carrying a lot of its own self-weight.’ (Ramage et
al., 2017, p333). Ramage et al go on to discuss this strength is increased by engineering the raw material,
creating specific timber products for specific construction needs. The engineering of the timber is not
just changing its configuration, such as creating laminates, but the chemical treatment as well.

Yorke (2011) maintains timber structures have their origins with the Saxons. By the tenth century the
Aisled Hall Houses where the best in Europe, these were timber structures based on a series of bays and
were typically two stories. This then moved on to the use of “Box Frames”, where a series of boxes could
be constructed and placed on top of one another. There have been examples of 6 stories using timber
box constructions. The development of the truss also added strength and therefore helped to develop
these taller, timber framed, buildings. Ramage et al. corroborates the number of possible stories as six.

Ramage et al. also discuss the critical element of a typical timber structure are the connections between
the load-bearing members. The size of the member can be determined by the size and scale of the
connection to accommodate the loads. ‘The efficiency of a connection is defined as the ratio of the
strength of the connection to the strength of the member it connects…compares connection efficiencies
using a range of connection types, and shows that connections using glue give the highest efficiency.’
(Ramage et al., 2017, p350).

It has also been established that, ‘A basic knowledge of wood-moisture relationships and growth
characteristics is fundamental to the use of this material.’ (American Institute of Timber Construction,
2012, p56). The American Institute of Timber Construction advise that due to wood being orthotropic it
is as strong to resist load at angles to the grain. The configuration of the lumber affects its strength and
ability to act as an affective support.

Romage et al. (2017) explains that greater strength in timber is achieved by engineering the sawn wood
to form products such as Glulam beams, structural members of thickness from 6mm to 45 mm formed of
numerous laminations glued together to create a beam or column; or Brettstapel, also known as
Dowellam, these are panels manufactured from soft wood planks fastened together by hard wood
dowels. These forms are given greater strength through their shape and ensuring the best is made from
the performance of timber. This is corroborated by Evans et al. who go on to say, ‘Each of these products
is fabricated from layers of sawn timber, which are glued together to form the beam. This process
increases the homogeneity of the final product as all the imperfections within sawn timber, such as knots,
are distributed along the beam rather than being concentrated at particular positions. This in turn
increases the strength of the element.’(Evans et al., 2014b, 2.2.3.1)
Timber Tower Construction

‘Individual components are combined to form structures that vary from thin concrete shells to steel-
trussed bridges to igloos to multistory high-rise towers, and all must be sufficiently stable to resist any
imposed lateral forces and hence avoid “falling over.” Stability and the various load-transfer mechanisms
different building types employ to achieve stability are explained in this chapter using the building
classifications developed by Heinrich Engel.’ (Evans et al., 2014a, 2.1.1).

‘In the last decade, a handful of timber buildings six storeys and higher have been constructed, and
engineers have begun to look at the possibility of building much taller with timber. The complexity of the
structure of a tall building increases with the height of the structure.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p349).
Ramage et al., go on to explain how taller structure can be achieved using either a central core or a frame
around the perimeter of the building, both form a load path down to the foundation. To achieve an even
greater height; ‘A common system for very tall buildings in concrete is a central core coupled with shear
walls near the outer edges of the building by stiff link beams, and a timber version of this system is
proposed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in their theoretical design exercise for a 42-storey building.’
(Ramage et al., 2017, p349). ‘The tallest timber building in the world is Treet, a 14 storey, 48m high
residential building in Bergen, Norway.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p105)

Ramage et al. (2017) suggests there is an expectation for advancements in timber construction to match
that of steel and concrete. To advance from the first modern skyscraper, the 42m tall Le Baron Jenney’s
Home Insurance Building of 1884, Chicago, to the 381m Empire State Building in New York completed less
than 50 years later. This expectation is based on recent architectural, engineering and research expertise
in timber construction.

In terms of how timber can be considered for tall structures it has an ‘excellent specific strength and
stiffness.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p110). Ramage et al. (2017) go on to say when you compare the mass of
the material to the performance, such as the strength and stiffness, timber performs similarly to steel and
better than concrete.

The concerns with tall tower construction is the connections used to form the frame. Ramage et al.
(2017) point this out. They advise that very small movements in a connection to the lower part of a
timber tower can produce lateral displacement at the top of the building larger than could be predicted
by a simple elastic deflection prediction.

The American Institute of Timber Construction (2012) explains that the most simple of connections are
direct bearing. The load is transferred down from one member to the member below and into the
foundation. This method is often not feasible, particularly for modern buildings, so the most common is
though the use of mechanical attachments made from steel. This ranges from nails, screws and bolts to
plates, shoes and sections. ‘Regardless of the type of connection used, every connection must be
designed and detailed to resist all anticipated loads throughout the life of the structure. In addition to
transferring the structural loads, connections must accommodate changes in wood dimensions due to
variations in moisture content.’ (American Institute of Timber Construction, 2012, p261). In order to build
higher the connections must perform.

Fire Safety & Fire Design

‘There are generally statutory requirements for the provision of escape routing in all except the simplest
single-storey structures.’ (Purkiss, 1996, p4). Therefore, it follows on that a complex structure consisting
of many stories will require statutory regulation to ensure it is designed correctly when concerning fire
safety. Purkiss (1996) goes on to outline that passive measures of fire protection, primarily ensuring the
occupants are safe. Examples of this are to keep the escape routes safe and protected, that there are
adequate safe areas that are both safe from collapse as well as fire and that there is
compartmentalisation. ‘Any large structure should be divided into compartments vertically, hori-zontally,
or both. This requirement is to limit the spread of fire throughout a structure and may also be imposed to
allow the phased evacuation of a multi-story structure.’ (Purkiss, 1996, p9).

The American Institute of Timber Construction (2012) establish that the most important safety feature to
be included in the design of a building is the inclusion of suitable and accessible exits. As a result of this
most building codes from around the world include extensive details on how to safely exit the building in
the event of an emergency and that the building does not collapse before all occupants have safely
exited. They conclude that the high performance of large timber members has led to larger building
heights. The members used in heavy timber construction can be designed to resist fire for up to two
hours. This is possible with both the designer and the manufacturer working together. The designer
needs to specify the size correctly and the manufacturer needs to ensure the performance in fire is
maintained. This will require appropriate communication and cooperation.

American Institute of Timber Construction (2012) discuss the use of fire-retardant-treated wood. The
uses are limited to partitions to help to safely separate areas for compartmentalisation, they are not,
however, suitable for structural members. The processes used to change the timber making it fire-
retardant can negatively affect its performance. ‘The glulam industry does not generally recommend the
use of fire-retardant treatments with structural glued laminated timber.’(American Institute of Timber
Construction, 2012, p496).

It is worth noting that, ‘Experience with actual building fires has demonstrated that no material
(combustible or noncombustable) is immune to the effects of fires. The specification of noncombustable
structural materials may not provide adequate fire safety.’ (American Institute of Timber Construction,
2012, p495)

‘The only recorded structural failures in tall buildings in the last 30 years are earthquake and fire
related…’ (Cowlard et al., 2013, p170). They elaborate on this point by discussing recent years have seen
the collapse of steel buildings due to failure of steel structures affected by fire. Forensic analysis of these
examples show that building codes that relate to fire safety do not match the needs and scope of tall
buildings. These failures emphasise the lack of design tools available to ensure fire safety. Also factors
other than fire safety drive innovation, such as energy and the use of externally insulated cladding. The
example use in this case is a residential building in Shanghai, the entire 28 storey building was destroyed
by fire that spread via the external façade making escape impossible.

Cowlard et al. (2013) break down a holistic fire safety strategy for tall buildings into two components, the
performance of the building and the escape strategy. The evacuation strategy is simple, it is the time it
takes for every occupant to exit the building in the event of a fire. The building performance is broken
down into structural performance and fire spread mitigation. These are usually dealt with separately and
are measured in time, the escape in minutes and the performance in hours. However, when dealing with
the exaggerated heights of modern tall buildings these factors become linked as evacuation times are
extended to the extent they are comparable with the heating times of structural elements and the failure
times of these structures.

‘Sprinklers save lives.’ (Östman et al., 2017, p17). Östman et al. (2017) agree with Cowlard. Sprinkler
systems, or some form of active fire suppression system, provides more time for escape, time being the
issue discussed above. Providing more time will lead to the requirements on passive fire protection to be
partly reduced. Such a system will also facilitate the use of wood products.
‘The use of timber in larger structures relies on fire engineering design to ensure that the building can
retain its structural integrity for sufficient time either for building occupants to be evacuated, or for the
fire to be extinguished.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p351). They continue to discuss that this is a possibility
when using large cross-section timber, the structural timbers are thick enough that that are able to char
without affecting their ability to support the structure. ‘Smaller cross-sections must be encapsulated in
non-combustible material such as gypsum boards or concrete.’ (Ramage et al., 2017, p351).

With regard to tall and medium timber building, Wiesner & Bisby (2018) advise that fire
compartmentalisation must be maintained throughout the full duration of the fire. This is to allow the
fire load within a compartment to burn out reaching self-extinction, designers must ensure the conditions
exist for this state to be true.

Wiesner & Bisby (2018) go on to say that the pyrolysis of timber produces char, although char has no
mechanical strength, it does have a low thermal conductivity and will provide the core of a timber
structural member some thermal protection from the heat of the fire. Heating the wood can advisedly
affect the structural integrity of the member. ‘Charring and sacrificial loss of cross section form the basis
of structural fire design for unprotected timber elements.’ (Wiesner and Bisby, 2018, p3). They conclude
that there is not yet a suitable prediction method for designers to accurately calculate the load bearing
capabilities of fire-exposed timber. They go on to say, ‘This raises doubts of increasingly taller buildings
with potentially different fire dynamics to those assumed by the dominant fire resistance design
framework.’ (Wiesner and Bisby, 2018, p11)
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Cowlard, A. et al. (2013). Fire Safety Design for Tall Buildings. Procedia Engineering, 62 9th Asia-Oceania
Symposium on Fire Science and Technology 169–181. Available from
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Evans, P., McLean, W. and Silver, P. (2014a). General theory of structures. In: Structural Engineering for
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Evans, P., McLean, W. and Silver, P. (2014b). Structural Engineering for Architects. Laurence King.
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Wiesner, F. and Bisby, L. (2018). The structural capacity of laminated timber compression elements in
fire: A meta-analysis. Fire Safety Journal,. Available from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379711218301759 [Accessed 26 November
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