In large timber construction projects builders often pour staircases when not much is visible on the construction site except for the not much is visible on the construction site except for the basement. Carpenters then assemble the prefabricated wooden components.

Timbatec has reversed this sequence: the wooden structure is erected, then the liquid concrete is poured - or we do not use concrete at all and design the staircases from wood. The inversion of the work steps is the logical logical consequence of today's way of working, because timber constructors work with smaller tolerances than concrete builders. The wooden elements are prefabricated prefabricated. This accuracy is not possible when concreting on site. possible. That is why we plan the concreting of the elevator shaft as the last piece of the piece of the puzzle.

2-D and 3-D representation of the subsequently concreted staircase core: The number of necessary connectors and the thickness of the concrete wall can be reduced thanks to this method.

Less steel and concrete needed

The advantages of the The advantages of the new approach are obvious: significantly fewer steel steel sections and bolts, the connection from the timber structure to the concrete core is easier and the construction time is shorter. There is no need to erect and dismantle the scaffolding and formwork for the concrete core is no longer necessary and the amount of concrete used can be be reduced. This is achieved with the same performance: the subsequently poured concrete is positively and non-positively connected to the wooden structure. The stairwell cores serve to provide structural stiffening for the buildings and ensure escape routes in the event of fire.

The efficient and resource-saving In 2019, Timbatec used the efficient and resource-conserving method with the subsequently concreted staircase cores for Haus Krokodil in Winterthur, a wooden building with 248 apartments, developed. Since then, it has been used in a large number of multi-story timber buildings. applied.

Staircases stairwells and elevator shafts can also be constructed without concrete. without concrete. This also applies to safety stairwells, for example in hospitals or hospitals or high-rise buildings.

Buildings with a total height of more than 30 meters are considered high-rise buildings in Switzerland. Such must by law be built with safety staircases. This means: All vertical escape routes must be specially protected against the ingress of smoke and fire. against the penetration of smoke and fire. If access for the fire department is impossible in the event of a fire, buildings under fire, buildings less than 30 meters high must also be planned with a must be planned with a safety stairwell. The same applies to hospitals.

Until now, such staircases and escape routes were escape routes were built in concrete. The fact that safety staircases can now be The apartment building on Albulastrasse in Zurich proves that wooden stairwells are possible today: Here, the stairwell was constructed with cross-laminated timber and lined with 18-millimeter-thick gypsum fiberboards. thick gypsum fiberboard - encapsulated, as the experts call it.

Two minutes' walk from the Zurich Altstetten train station is an apartment building with over 30 apartments on seven floors. Since the limited space available access for the fire department, the engineers from Timbatec planned a safety staircase Timbatec engineers planned a safety stairwell - made of wood.