Designing with reclaimed timber

Abstract

The Netherlands is facing a severe housing shortage, while the availability of space for new construction is limited. At the same time, the construction industry is responsible for a large share of global CO2 emissions and material consumption. In addition, neighbourhoods such as Wittenburg in Amsterdam face increasing social vulnerability and reduced social cohesion. Together, these challenges create an urgent need to rethink how cities are densified, how resources are used and how architecture can contribute to social wellbeing.

This graduation project explores topping-up post-war residential buildings as a strategy to simultaneously address these challenges. Thanks to their repetitive concrete structures, flat roofs and overdimensioned load-bearing systems, post-war residential buildings offer opportunities for urban densification through lightweight timber extensions. Within this context, reclaimed timber is explored as a circular material strategy. Reuse is positioned high in the cascading process because it preserves material quality and embodied carbon. However, despite the high availability of timber waste in the Netherlands, direct reuse in new construction remains limited. Reclaimed timber is variable, uncertain and irregular. This challenges conventional architectural processes based on standardisation.

The research explores the following question: How can reclaimed timber be translated into reusable building elements for application in the contemporary building industry? Through literature research, case study analysis and material investigation, a realistic reclaimed timber stock is defined and translated into a representative database. Based on this database, multiple reusable building elements are developed, including structural systems, timber frame elements and finishing applications. The elements respond to the variability of reclaimed timber while anticipating future reuse through modularity, demountability and adaptability.

The developed framework is tested through a design case in Wittenburg, Amsterdam. The project explores the following design question: How can reclaimed timber elements be applied in a topping-up strategy to improve social cohesion, safety and spatial quality in Wittenburg, Amsterdam? Through communal living principles and a contemporary interpretation of eyes on the street, the design introduces shared spaces across multiple scales, from the dwelling to the neighbourhood.

The findings show that reclaimed timber can be translated into reusable building elements when a realistic stock is defined, uncertainty is translated into a representative database and reusable systems are developed that work with material variability rather than against it. The Wittenburg case demonstrates that reclaimed timber can realistically be integrated into a topping-up strategy while contributing to housing densification, reducing environmental impact and strengthening the spatial conditions for social cohesion. In doing so, reclaimed timber becomes not only a sustainable material strategy, but also an architectural design principle for contemporary construction.