Construction management for tall CLT buildings: From partial to total prefabrication of façade elements

Cross-Laminated Timber is one of the most widely used engineered wood products, thanks to its numerous advantages, among which construction speed is the most appreciated, both by clients and by designers. However, construction scheduling compression refers exclusively to CLT structures, while the rest of the construction process still requires a longer phase to complete vertical enclosures. The aim of the research work presented in this paper is to outline advantages brought about when the degree of envelope prefabrication of tall timber buildings is increased. Results are presented in two sections. The first includes the definition of a case study together with an overview of possible technical details for entirely prefabricated façade solutions, ready to be installed without the need to work via scaffolds. The second deals with construction site management analysis for the case study building, where the determination of specific factors having an influence on time and costs is achieved by varying the prefabrication degree of the various façade configurations and repeating the analysis process. The main findings of this research work demonstrate that comprehensive façade prefabrication allows not only consistent compression of construction scheduling to be achieved, but also for immediate protection of wooden elements from weather agents.