Rethinking Timber Building

The elegant roof structure of Handl Gastro Service is breaking records ...

With an area of 650 m2, this is not only the world’s largest ever column-supported cross-laminated timber panel, but it also requires very few columns, which are laid out on a 7 x 7 meter grid. And there are also neither upstand nor downstand beams. In other words, there is no need for the supporting beams usually found in timber structures.

The roof was created together with two innovative companies – the South Tyrolean Rothoblaas Srl and the Swiss Timber Structures 3.0 AG – and the University of Innsbruck.

Fixed with nothing
The uniform, smooth cross-laminated timber slab was built with the help of the TS3-Technology developed by Timber Structures 3.0. This is a special casting technology, which facilitates the rigid jointing of individual timber panels and, thus, the covering of huge areas with a large single surface. This means that timber is now a true alternative to reinforced concrete in roof building.

Support – spider – panel
The flat, cross-laminated timber ceiling is supported on columns. These timber columns are connected to the cross-laminated timber slab with the help of the “Spider Connector” that was developed by Rothoblaas in cooperation with the University of Innsbruck. This novel connection and reinforcement system can transfer more than 5,000 kN of vertical load and makes it possible to position the timber columns at previously impossibly large distances.

In order to complete this fusion of natural construction materials and innovative construction technology, ATP adapted the external appearance in line with the company’s traditional “Speckalm” outlet. The completion of Handl Gastro Service is planned for April 2021.

