Reuse of Load-Bearing Timber Elements - Case Study of a Lookout Tower in Lausanne, Switzerland

The construction industry is jeopardizing Earth’s environment; current mitigation efforts do not suffice; and additional sustainable strategies are required. One such strategy consists of reusing structural building elements over multiple service lives. In this context, this paper introduces a new framework for the design of timber structures made from reused structural elements. Beyond general approaches to reuse structural elements, the proposed framework provides a computational approach that supports architects and engineers in their design and decision making. In this course, optimization techniques such as Best-Fit heuristics are implemented to optimally utilize available stock elements in a new design. The introduced framework is applied to a real-world case study where a lookout tower is designed from timber elements salvaged from a soon-to-be-demolished lookout tower. Results show that a new design that makes optimal use of available stock elements and that meets architectural and statical requirements exists. In the long run, the introduced framework for the reuse of structural elements encourages the design of more sustainable structures with lower environmental impact.