3 2 1 5

Architect
Hermann Kaufmann
Architekten
Location
Dornbirn, Austria
Completed
June 2012
ByHughStrange
Legislation governing the maxi-
mum height of multi-storey
timberconstructionvariesthrough-
out Europe. But across the
continent there is a widespread
conservatism as to the perceived
fire risks. Against this background
Austrianarchitect HermannKauf-
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FRIDAY 22/02/2013
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PROJECT
LCT One Administration Building
manns completion of the 26m-
high LCT One Administration
Building in Dornbirn in the
Vorarlberg region of Austria is of
particular importance.
The eight-storey tower is the
prototype of a research project
titled LifeCycle Tower, which is
developing a constructional sys-
temthat canreach 30 floors using
load-bearing timber. LCT One is
the first eight-storey wooden
building in Austria and the tallest
exposed load-bearing timber
structure in the world. Although
taller timber towers have been
built, they have in general relied
oncoveringupthe woodwithfire-
board. The timber withinthe LCT
OneBuilding, however, is exposed
and untreated.
The building is designed to
Passivhaus standards and has
been constructed with large floor
spans anda2.70mfloor-to-ceiling
height with future flexibility in
mind, providing the possibility of
open-plan office, compartmen-
talised offices or residential use.
The tower has an in-situ con-
crete core that provides structural
bracing and houses the lift, stair
andWCs. Inaddition, the ground
floor is formed in cast concrete.
The seven floors above are of pre-
fabricated construction, simply
boltedbacktofixings cast intothe
core walls. The floor plates span
betweenthe core andthe building
facades where the vertical loads
are taken by double columns of
glulamtimber construction.
The prefabricated 8.1 x 2.7m
floor/ceilingpanels of hybridcon-
struction comprise twinned tim-
ber beams notchedandcast into a
concrete lintel beamtogether with
a 80mm concrete topping. The
composite nature of the units
allows themto horizontally brace
the structure while the concrete
layer provides acoustic separation
between the floors.
Significantly, the research
incorporated the fire certification
of the panels the concrete top-
pingcreatinga testedfire separat-
inglayer. Services panels incorpo-
rating heating and cooling,
lighting and sprinklers are clad in
sheet steel and located between
the timber downstands.
In addition the facade has been
brought to site in 12m-long units
including insulation, framing,
plasterboard and windows with
only the recycled metal cladding
added to the elevations on site.
The inclusion of the various pre-
fabricated elements has resulted
in a construction process with a
claimed reduction of one half in
material use through construc-
tional optimisation and claimed
reductioninweight of 30%over a
purely reinforced concrete struc-
ture. Most remarkably the floors
were assembled by a site team of
five workers at aspeedof one floor
per day.
Recently, tall timber buildings
have been constructed in various
locations aroundEurope. But this
breakthroughproject suggests the
possibility of a high-rise load-
bearing timber construction
methodology that might be archi-
tecturally expressive of its mate-
rial constructionwhile combining
the carbon-capture benefits of
solid timber construction with
high environmental standards.
PROJECT TEAM
Architect
Hermann Kaufmann
Client
Cree
Structural engineer
Merz Kley Partner
Services engineer
(heating, ventilation, sanitary)
EGS-Plan
Services engineer
(electrical)
Ingenieurbro Brugger
The eight-
storey tower
is the tallest
exposed
load-bearing
timber
structure in
the world.
The floors were assembled by a site teamof five at a speed of one floor per day.
At the facades vertical loads are taken by double columns of glulamtimber.
Sheet steel-clad services panels are located between the timber downstands.
Cross sectionthroughfloor panels
Longsectionthroughfloor panels
Section
Prefabricated composite units are bolted to the concrete core.
4
1 Twinned timber beams cast into
concrete lintel beam
2 Pin fixing with grout filling
3 Site-applied grout to fill joint
4 L-angle with flange
5 Concrete wall to core
8100 mm
2700 mm 2700 mm