Course Details

Timber buildings

Academic Year 2025/26

BHA029 course is part of 1 study plan

​ BPC-EVB Summer Semester 3rd year

Course Guarantor

doc. Ing. Karel Šuhajda, Ph.D.

Institute

Institute of Building Structures

Language of instruction

Czech

Credits

4 credits

Semester

summer

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Offered to foreign students

Not to offer

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/289994

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Syllabus

  • 1. Introduction: Single- and multi-storey timber buildings, available construction materials with regard to indoor and outdoor climate, construction processes, protection of structural timber.
  • 2.-3. Timber frame buildings: Existing variants, design, advantages and disadvantages, typical details.
  • 4. SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) buildings: Description, design, advantages and disadvantages, typical details.
  • 5. Mass timber (gluelam) buildings: Description, design, advantages and disadvantages, typical details.
  • 6. Timber log buildings: Existing variants, design, advantages and disadvantages, typical details.
  • 7. Special timber buildings: timber buildings in flood zones and seismic zones, high-rise timber buildings, etc.
  • 8. Maintenance, repairs and rehabilitation of timber buildings.
  • 9. Building physics: Thermal performance of timber buildings in comparison to traditional masonry buildings.
  • 10. Building physics: Indoor climate in timber buildings
  • 11. Fire safety in timber buildings: Residential buildings.
  • 12. Fire safety in timber buildings: Industrial buildings and warehouses.
  • 13. Fire safety in timber buildings: Public buildings

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Syllabus

  • 1. Assignment of semestral projects: Redesign of the building elaborated in Building design 1 to 4 courses into a basementless timber building. Approximate calculations of dimensions of load-bearing elements.
  • 2. Design of timber frame building foundations.
  • 3. Design of timber frame building walls with regard to building physics, technical systems, piping, etc. Assembly scheme of one wall. Ground floor plan drawing.
  • 4. Design of variants to timber frame building walls (SIP, timber logs, etc.). Variant ground floor plan drawing.
  • 5. Design of timber frame building floor and ceiling. Floor structure drawing.
  • 6. Design of variants to timber frame building floor. Variant floor structure drawings.
  • 7. Presentation of previous works, discussion, group consultations.
  • 8. Design of sloped roof of timber frame building. Roof truss drawing.
  • 9. Design of variants to timber frame sloped roof. Variant roof truss drawings.
  • 10. Design of flat roofs of timber frame building. Flat roof drawing.
  • 11. Assembly details of timber buildings. Assembly detail drawings.
  • 12. Presentation of previous works, discussion, group consultations.
  • 13. Final consultations and classification.