ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a step towards the construction of larger, structurally efficient, wide-spanning folded plate structures with aesthetic values, built from a highly sustainable and lightweight material. Folded plate structures are so-called surface-active structures, which allow for the construction of self-supporting, column-free segmented shells over large spans with relatively thin plates. The construction of folded plates from discrete components, which allowed for prefabrication but required joints between the individual plates, became popular. A bidirectionally folded surface structure built with cross-laminated wood panels was investigated at the Laboratory for Timber Constructions IBOIS in 2006. Typical joints that were fabricated with these tools, such as mortise- and-tenons, lap-joints or birdsmouth joints, are so-called integral joints, where stresses between the parts are transferred through geometrical features. Timber frame constructions used linear elements such as beams and posts, and diagonal beams were used for the structurally necessary cross-bracing.
