Woodcube Residential Building in Hamburg, Germany

Structures Analysed with Dlubal Software

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Exterior view of Woodcube (© Isenmann Ingenieure)

Reinforced concrete model and calculation results of reinforced concrete design (© Isenmann Ingenieure)

Customer Project

Structural Engineering	Isenmann Ingenieure Haslach, Germany www.isenmann-ingenieure.de
Construction	Ing. Erwin Thoma Holz GmbH Thoma research center for woodworking Goldegg, Austria www.thoma.at
Architecture	Architekturagentur Stuttgart, Germany www.architekturagentur.de
Investor	Woodcube Hamburg GmbH DeepGreen Development Hamburg, Germany deepgreen-development.com/woodcube-hamburg

The following data refer to the reinforced concrete structure of "Woodcube".

The 5-story residential building with an impressive ecological balance had the opportunity to be presented at the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg, Germany. Being CO₂-neutral in both its production and operation, the Woodcube's energy level corresponds approximately to the one of a passive house. Any material used in the timber cube is completely recyclable and biodegradable.

The customer of Dlubal Software, Isenmann Ingenieure from Haslach was in charge of the structural planning. The calculation and design of the central access core and the pile foundation made of reinforced concrete was carried out in RFEM.

Timber and Reinforced Concrete Structure

What is really revolutionary is the fact that the timber core of the building including ceilings and floors consists of completely untreated wood remaining visible in the outdoor as well as the indoor area.

The Woodcube is composed of prefabricated wall, floor and roof elements consisting of timber. Due to the high degree of pre-fabrication, the wooden shell has been completed within four weeks. It is placed upon the basement and built around the central access core with the staircase and the elevator, both made of reinforced concrete.

The basement rests on a total of 22 full displacement bored piles of Ø 51 cm which are inserted 13 m deep into the ground. The load applied on each pile head is up to 1,000 kN. In order to transfer the loading in an optimal way, a circumferential pile head beam is arranged below the external walls. The basement is made of waterproof concrete.

All in all the external walls of the wooden cube have a thickness of 32 cm including a layer of t = 3 cm for thermal insulation consisting of softboards. The façade is based on a ventilated coating made of untreated larch wood.

The loads are transferred by the external walls and the walls of the central access core. Thus, no further columns or load‑bearing interior walls are needed, which allows for an individual layout of rooms.