Fire-resistance of Cross-Laminated Timber

  Canadian researchers recently put Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), a somewhat new building product, to the test to determine fire-resistance properties. Their findings were: The tests demonstrated that CLT assemblies can achieve significant fire resistance that is close to three hours in some cases with even unprotected CLT under full loading conditions. The failure modes were […] Read more..

My SketchUp Book is Out!

This is an exciting week! My book “Architectural Design with SketchUp” is now available from all of the online booksellers and should be in stores soon, too. After a year of writing and a few months editing and finalizing, it feels really good to see the final product now on store shelves and on Amazon’s […] Read more..

Analyze this! Creating geometry for structural analysis in SketchUp

I just posted a tutorial on my new SketchUp book’s companion site, http://sketchupfordesign.com, about how you can use SketchUp to create geometry for structural analysis. You can find the article (and the video) here: http://sketchupfordesign.com/tutorials/analyze-this-creating-geometry-for-structural-analysis-in-sketchup/

Wood design at the Oktoberfest

If you thought the Oktoberfest in Munich (Germany) was all about beer, think again. The agricultural fair that accompanies the Fest has a little gem this year for anyone interested in forests and wood design. Envisioned by Architecture students from the TU Munich (the Technical University) and fabricated by carpentry students from the vocational school in […] Read more..