1985x
000813
2014-05-06

Timber Apartment Complex in Brescia, Italy

A timber apartment complex with appealing architecture has been built in the Italian town of Brescia. Four housing complexes include a total of 72 housing units.

For the Lombard Institute for Residential Buildings (ALER), this was the first project carried out in wood.

The data listed below refer to the model of housing complex B.

Length: ~ 65.6 ft | Width: ~ 54.2 ft | Height: ~ 42.6 ft
Number of nodes: 921 | Members: 210 | Surfaces: 103 | Finite Elements: 11,928 | Cross-sections: 11

Rubner Holzbau AG, a customer of Dlubal Software, was responsible for the structural analysis of the timber structures. The architectural design was created by the Milan architects 5+1AA S.R.L. (Genoa subsidiary).

Structure

The construction impresses with great figures. A total of 54,914 ft³ of glued-laminated and cross‑laminated timber was used, including for the elevator shafts and staircases. The entire cubage of the structure includes more than 635,664 ft³.

It is not only the use of wood as a renewable resource that results in an impressive ecological balance: The subsidized housing complex also achieves high energy efficiency classes (Climate House A and Class A CENED - Lombardy region).

All four complexes have similar dimensions. For example, Complex B is about l x w x h = 65.6 ft x 52.4 ft x 42.6 ft. The walls consist of cross‑laminated timber with a thickness of 3.9 in. The floors have been built with glued-laminated timber elements of strength grade GL 24 h. The downstand beams have been designed with either steel or timber, depending on the span width and loading.

The city of Brescia is situated in an earthquake-prone region. Therefore, Rubner performed a seismic analysis using the RFEM modules RF‑DYNAM Basic and RF‑DYNAM Addition II.

The Brescia project has clearly shown that wood construction is a viable and promising technology for the future, including in the field of social housing.

Structural Engineering Structural Analysis of Timber Structures
Rubner Holzbau AG
Bressanone, Italy
www.rubner.com

Structural Engineer
I2 Ingegneria Srl
Genoa, Italy
Construction General Contractor
Rubner Objektbau GmbH
Kiens, Italy
www.rubner.com
Architect 5+1AA S.R.L.
Genoa, Italy
Investor ALER Azienda Lombarda per l'Edilizia Residenziale di Brescia
Brescia, Italy
www.aler.brescia.it


Project Specifications

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