Construction site aperitif in the TS3 large-scale project

15.07.2021

In Frenkendorf in Basel-Land, the first four-story apartment building with a column slab construction made of wood is located. More than 60 people visited the building with TS3 technology.

The construction industry is on the verge of a radical change: with a new technology, timber construction is conquering large buildings. TS3 makes large areas made of wood possible. This means that wood can replace traditional reinforced concrete in many projects - which is good for the climate. 

The column-plate construction with TS3 allows generous rooms without beams. Details such as the window connection are also much easier to solve. Conventional construction requires an elaborate cantilever slab connection. Here, the CLT panel simply runs through from the living space to the terrace.

During a tour of the construction site on July 08, 2021, architect Andreas Scherer and engineers from Timbatec and TS3 described how the first four-story TS3 building came to be. Once the building was planned as a solid construction, then the client could be convinced of a timber construction with the TS3 technology. During the convincing phase, we had to continue planning the building project in different material variants, so Scherer. There TS3 played into our hands. Because: The planning with the biaxial load-bearing cross laminated timber panels is similar to projects made of reinforced concrete. The environment is also pleased: With the system change from concrete to wood, around 600 tons of CO₂ could be saved at Fasanenhof.

Thanks to meticulous planning and prefabricated components, we set up the building with 14 apartments in just three weeks. Construction projects with a lot of steel, brick and concrete take much longer. Often, planning and decisions are still being made on the construction site. This massively disrupts the construction process.

During the aperitif, the invited guests were able to witness the potting of a TS3 joint live. The application engineers René Wicki and Richard Wüthrich showed live how the technology works.  

The Timber Structures 3.0 technology, TS3 for short, is a process that can generate large surfaces from wood - without the cross beams that were previously common. These large areas can replace reinforced concrete in most areas. TS3 connects wood components on the face side. For decades, this was considered impossible. The solution is a two-component polyurethane casting resin. This resin connects the timber elements to each other on the face side. This enables column-and-plate constructions of the kind that were previously only possible with reinforced concrete projects. This means that timber construction has reached the third generation - a quantum leap that is causing the construction industry to rethink.

The CLT panels were pretreated in the factory and provided with sealing and segmental bands (white and black bands on the face). After positioning on the supports, they were joined together by joint grouting. On the underside of the ceiling, the joint is barely visible. Beams are no longer necessary.

The technology is the result of 10 years of research and development together with the Bern University of Applied Sciences and ETH Zurich. With the four-story apartment building in Frenkendorf, the proof of concept has been more than provided.