Part of the Timber & Bio-Based Construction research theme.

Temporary and transitional housing is a central part of post-disaster response and recovery. Deploying it successfully requires structures that are low in cost, easy to assemble, and adaptable to the materials and manufacturing available locally. Research in the Lab develops structural connection and assembly systems that allow buildings to be constructed rapidly from lightweight timber components, and tests them in full-scale prototypes.

Related work on digital fabrication and on bio-based panels for temporary housing is described under Digital Fabrication and Timber-Cardboard Composites, respectively.

Digitally-Fabricated Thin-Walled Sections

Modern factory automation allows timber building components with integral mechanical joints to be produced economically. Tests of digitally fabricated thin-walled timber sections evaluated the role of integral mechanical press-fit joints in their structural behaviour and failure mechanisms. Factors including material orientation, thickness, and joint tightness were investigated to understand their effect on failure modes, including crushing and pop-off buckling. Further tests examined the compressive failure mechanisms of plywood box columns, showing the influence of localised defects and integral joint capacity. Further information: DOI:10.1142/S0219455419501268 and DOI:10.1142/S021945542150022X.

Tension Strap Connections

The strap joint was developed for rapid assembly with lightweight timber and prefabricated panels. Low-cost, widely available packaging straps were tensioned around the timber to form a semi-rigid and adaptable structural connection. Experimental, numerical, and theoretical studies of its semi-rigid behaviour showed a non-linear and ductile moment-rotation response, arising from strap elongation, timber bearing, and rotational deformation. The joint’s effectiveness in temporary housing was demonstrated with a portal frame model and a full-scale physical prototype. Further information: DOI:10.1016/j.engstruct.2022.114320.

The strap joint has since been developed into post-tensioned strapping connections for the rapid assembly of low-cost timber structures. Further information: Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2023.

Prototypes and Exhibitions

Code and Software

Related Publications

Abu-Saleem, M., Baber, K., Gattas, J. M., Gilbert, G., Bihan, M. L., Rose, A., & Ximenes, F. (2025). Aligning needs and sustainability: A case study of biobased temporary housing. In World conference on timber engineering 2025 (pp. 2752–2761). World Conference On Timber Engineering 2025. https://doi.org/10.52202/080513-0336

Gattas, J. M., Baber, K., & Stringer, G. (2025). Sustainable modular timber membrane shade structures from under-utilised plantation thinnings. In Proceedings of the 18th east asia-pacific conference on structural engineering and construction, volume 3 (pp. 184–190). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-0090-1_24

Gattas, J. M., Xu, S., Lu, Z., & Xin, Z.-Y. (2023). Post-tensioned strapping connections for rapid assembly of low-cost timber structures. In Proceedings of IASS annual symposia (Vol. 2023, pp. 1–12). International Association for Shell; Spatial Structures (IASS).

Xin, Z.-Y., Baber, K., & Gattas, J. M. (2022). A novel tension strap connection for rapid assembly of temporary timber structures. Engineering Structures, 262, 114320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2022.114320

Xin, Z., & Gattas, J. (2020). Structural behaviours of integrally-jointed plywood columns with knot defects. International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1142/S021945542150022X

Alqaryouti, Y., Fernando, D., & Gattas, J. (2019). Structural behavior of digitally fabricated thin-walled timber columns. International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics, 19(10), 1950126. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219455419501268

Al-Qaryouti, Y., Wen, Y., Fernando, D., & Gattas, J. M. (2017). Comparison of plate and shell timber-composite sandwich structures. In Proceedings of IASS annual symposia (Vol. 2017, pp. 1–8). International Association for Shell; Spatial Structures (IASS). Retrieved from https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/iass/piass/2017/00002017/00000017/art00001?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf