Modular Housing | Combining Traditional Timber Structure with Digital Design and Manufacturing

The IBA (International Building Exhibition) timber prototype house presents a new form of micro-architecture. It combines the advantages of traditional low-cost timber construction with advances in computational design and manufacturing. The project explores a new solid-timber building system that shapes environmentally responsible, expressive, single-material building envelopes in an economically sound way.

Unlike the typical horizontal stacking of log construction, solid timber members here are set as mutually offset vertical frames, so the vertical elements express the strong directionality of wood and create narrow slits without compromising the structural performance of the solid timber. These fine slits act as stress-relief cuts that prevent solid timber from cracking and help ensure stability and airtightness.

The highly sustainable, single-material building system thus created serves as structure, envelope, and insulation, meeting strict German energy-efficiency standards. Fully integrated computer-aided design and construction makes it possible to gently twist and curve walls and ceilings, maximizing the ratio of usable space to envelope surface area while further enhancing the architectural experience of this distinctive micro-home.

Digital fabrication produces high-precision, tightly sealed components that connect the timber members, allowing the house to be built without metal fasteners or adhesives. The timber prototype house was part of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) that opened in Apolda, Thuringia, on May 24, 2019, and is currently open to the public.

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