Research on Timber and Timber–Concrete Buildings

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry having been one of the last remaining strongholds against change and innovation, today’s needs are forcing this industry to finally undergo paradigmatic changes. The time has come for the AEC industry to substantially change its major role in promoting energy consumption, gas emissions, waste generation, and artisan working. This is enforced not only by our personal views regarding climate change, but also by the fact that natural disasters caused by extreme weather are more frequent and are causing enormous loses and that, especially in developed countries, there is a substantial shortage of skilled construction workers. This shortage is happening in the context of substantial economic changes as well as the remarkable technological changes caused by AI and digitalization.

In this context, a few questions arise when stating that timber—obtained from sustainable and strictly managed forests—and timber mixed with sustainable concrete are two of the best options for adapting the AEC industry to the needs of humankind. The point is that we need sustainable, easily industrializable, digitalizable and resilient structures that still are affordable. This goal poses a huge research challenge in the investigation of timber and timber–concrete buildings; we do not need them just as niche structures but as a real viable option for humankind. To achieve this, we do not just need to “change the materials” we are using for buildings, but achieve much better industrialization, sustainability, compensated structural beheviour, non-structural performance, etc. Only through this can timber and timber–concrete buildings become a real option for the general public and cause a real paradigmatic change.

We therefore aim to include the following research topics regarding pioneering investigations into timber and timber–concrete buildings in this Special Issue:

• Research on timber structures to be used as medium- and high-rise buildings.
• Research on connections, components or entire structures that combine timber and concrete.
• The structural (gravitational and lateral) performance of timber and timber–concrete structures).
• The non-structural (thermal, moisture, acoustic, fire, durability, life-cycle) performance of timber and timber–concrete buildings.
• The resilience of timber and timber–concrete buildings.
• The use of innovative bioproducts within timber elements, or in addition to them, or used in concrete that is to be mixed with timber.
• Innovative connections and assemblies of timber and timber–concrete structures.
• Parametric design, timber robotics, timber and 3D-printed concrete, design for assembly and disassembly, prefabrication, industrialization, and deployable timber and timber–concrete structures.
• The design and construction of affordable timber and timber–concrete structures.

Dr. Pablo Guindos
Dr. José Luis Almazán Campillay
Dr. Alexander Opazo-Vega
Dr. Hernán Santa María Oyanedel
Guest Editors

Dr. Diego Valdivieso Cascante
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• timber structure
• timber-concrete
• timber design
• wood building
• structural performance
• non-structural performance
• industrialization
• sustainable construction
• resilience
• bioproduct