Field of slender timber box-section columns on concrete bases during hall assembly

Product

Tube Columns

Designed in concrete, built in timber: concrete columns replaced by slender, sustainable timber columns, matched to the grid of your hall.

≤ 50 %less material · vs. solid timber column, tall columns
biaxialrestrained
Impact protectionintegrated into any foundation

Our approach

A new generation of optimised columns.

As with the truss girder, saving material is central. In our own engineering office we optimise the column for the lowest material use. The material sits in the profile, exactly where the forces act.

For tall columns, the tube column carries the same load with up to half the material of a solid timber column of equal capacity. At smaller heights, the solid timber column keeps its place. For each project we choose the most material-efficient structure.

Field of slim timber tube columns at full height on the construction site, dramatic sky

Structural design

Slim where the building is tall.

biaxialrestrained in both directions.

The tube column is restrained in two directions. It plays to its strength above all at large building heights, where only little column depth is permitted. The cross-section thus stays slim without losing load-bearing capacity.

Foundations

Impact protection, integrated into any foundation.

Impact protection is provided by a concrete stub at the foot of the column. Depending on the foundation, we implement it in two ways, all from a single source.

Prefabricated BFT foundation with a cast-in steel base, render

Option 1

With a preformed foundation

We deliver the steel embed part to the BFT plant, which casts it straight into the foundation. On site, the concrete contractor sets the BFT element and we mount the timber column. An efficient, proven interface.

Timber tube column on a concrete column stub in the pocket foundation, render

Option 2

For pocket foundations

We fit the concrete stub to the timber column already in the factory. The column is then delivered as a hybrid column and set into the pocket foundation just like a concrete column.

Finished timber tube columns with a hollow box cross-section, stacked in the LIGNA systems production hall beneath the crane runway

Manufacturing

Bonded in our own plant.

In our own plant, the individual components are bonded into the tube column in line with our existing bonding approval. They are then planed once more and prepared for assembly.

Applications

Where the tube column is used.

In logistics halls, the tube column replaces the usual concrete columns with slim timber columns. Its advantage: it has roughly the same cross-section as the concrete column and thus fits into the familiar column grid.

Logistics structures