CLT Residential Building in Girona, Spain

Because the building is located in a seismic area, timber materials can reduce the horizontal load impact due to the characteristics (lightness and ductility). The structure is a 6-story CLT wall system that better absorbs the vertical and horizontal loads.

Additionally, the complete prefabrication of the CLT panels reduced the assembly time to only 6 weeks. Thermal bridging was also reduced, which increased the moisture control of the panels to ensure an optimal indoor climate.

Dlubal customers EGOIN and Estudi M103 SLP worked together under the direction of Blazquez Guanter SLP to bring out the very best in the design process. The program RFEM, including the add-on module RF-LAMINATE, was used to consider the orthotropic stiffness and strength for the structural analysis and design. CLT has the capacity to withstand bidirectional loads, which help to increase the stiffness compared to a uniaxial structural system.

In RFEM, line hinges based on actual connection stiffness of the slab, including nonlinear behavior, can be considered in a simple way. The line force diagrams were also produced in RFEM for further consideration in the RF-LIMITS add-on module when designing the connections. The RF-DYNAM Pro add-on module was utilized to calculate the natural vibrations and to perform a modal response spectrum analysis according to the Spanish standard NCSE-02.