Plug-and-Play Multistory Mass Timber Buildings: Achievements and Potentials

Abstract

This article features modular multistory timber construction in a benchmark-based approach. It first contextualizes the use of timber from the first human societies to today’s sustainable construction solutions. It then typifies modular component concepts and systems, debating possible modular architectural briefs, appealing for implementation in the emergency sheltering niche, which although already rehearsed in Europe, could take further advantage of transportability and stacking capabilities. Through a comparison of 10 modular timber construction case studies, various potentials are cataloged as an operative design showcase.