Re-thinking Local Timber: Form-Found Flow

Edward Louis Forsey

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Mohammadmahdi Olia

Nestled in a valley in the Pays d’Enhaut, next to a stream, this family sawmill is a basic and functional building. Our proposal is to remove the existing building replacing it with a whole new construction that takes up the existing functions, as well as allowing an expansion of the sawing and robotic cutting abilities. At the origin of the role of the new building is the modification of the material flow through the site to reduce the vehicle traffic. The processed wood is moved directly to the storage area using an elevator. This new flow creates the need for an area under the roof, which is free of any supporting structure, whilst only using pieces of wood fabricated in the sawmill, which constrains the available length to 5 meters. The wood frames are assembled using tenon and mortise joints, and the spacing between them highlights the evolution of the fabrication process in the longitudinal direction of the building. The design is entirely parametric, and the resulting shape of the building is created by taking in account the functional needs of the different areas inside. The traditional wood shingles cover the double curved roof, and further strengthen the sculptural dimension of the new building.

Files
Edward Forsey, Mohammadmahdi Olia_poster (PDF)
Team
Unit:
IBOIS
Teachers:
Yves Weinand
Assistants:
Nicolas Rogeau
Infos
Year:
2021
Period:
Fall
Category:
Semester Project
Topic:  
Architecture, Construction, Heritage, Structure, Technology
Copyright:
All rights reserved
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