module specification

This module invites you to engage with the process of formulating a researched design proposition that explores novel uses of timber in the built environment. It will provide you with an ability to critically engage in research for innovative timber design informed by knowledge of appropriate manufacturing, assembly and construction techniques.
The module aims to equip you for employment and/ or further postgraduate level study in timber design, through the development of your skills and understanding in regard to research for timber design. The underlying aim is to raise the awareness and expectations of innovative timber design by understanding and utilising appropriate forms of timber and appropriate methods of manufacture in the context of increased productivity and economic efficiency and/ or the future use and reuse of timber in a low carbon circular economy.

You will develop your understanding of the unique aspects of design for timber construction, in relation to the specific issues encountered in the built environment and with the various manufacturing processes associated with timber building systems. This background will enable you to critically select and carry out appropriate forms of research for developing well-informed timber design models, prototypes or artefacts.

The module will emphasise the function and value of the dissemination of research findings and therefore encourage high standards of documentation. The principal themes and issues relating to a specific research proposition will be defined by your interests and guided through tutorials, and seminars. You will discuss the aims of research for timber design, the validity of different research methods, the criteria used to determine them and appropriate modes of dissemination. Progression through the module will lead to synthesis of knowledge and the presentation of your design process for the final design project. The thesis may be theory based or a technical report and/or applied through co-presentation of a prototypical design or artefact.

Students must complete and pass AR7014 Research Methods for Timber Construction and AR7015 Timber Structures and Joints before commencing AR7P10 Innovative Timber Design Thesis.

The module syllabus will include:

• preparation and presentation of a thesis proposing a design for timber-based building or components;
• evidence-based research in support of the thesis;
• explicit calculation of environmental impact of the proposition;
• design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA);
• design for disassembly and re-use;
• research-led innovation for timber-based buildings and products.

Learning Outcomes LO 1 - 4

Learning and teaching activities will include a mix of presentation, lectures, seminars, tutorials, critical written reflection as part of a technical report: and individual presentations as an outcome of focused workshop events. This variety of learning and teaching events offers a diversity of formal and informal means of reflective learning, peer-to-peer, and personal development in close consultation with tutors.

On completion of this module you will be able to:

1. differentiate, evaluate, appraise and apply suitable technical timber building solutions for a specific site context, legislative landscape and climactic condition;
2. compare, contrast and identify appropriate making and manufacturing techniques for timber materials that may optimise construction productivity through a process of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) or leverage local skills or overlooked timber resources;
3. utilise appropriate methods of design, fabrication and construction that facilitate future disassembly and re-use of timber building components;
4. propose novel architectural or product design innovations from dimensional and/or engineered timber, based on appropriate qualitative or quantitative evidence.

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Dinwoodie. J. (2002) Timber: It's Nature and Behaviour, London: Taylor & Francis

Exova BM Trada (2017) Cross-laminated Timber: Design and Performance, Buckinghamshire: Exova BM Trada

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