1. Carpentry joints.

A brief overview
Up until 1700 oak and elm timber frame was the main form of construction.
From 1700 onwards the fortunes of timber as a construction material
declined. There were several factors.
A change in architectural taste towards the classical style expressed in stone.
After the great fire in 1666, and those that preceded it, rules were applied
that prohibited the use of timber in urban areas.
Shipbuilding had depleted the supply of oak to the extent that home grown
timber was in short supply. The Baltic, North America and later Scandinavia,
became the main suppliers of structural timber into Britain. These timbers
were predominantly softwoods such as Pine, Douglas Fir, Larch, Spruce, etc.
There was a brief revival in the 1900s arising from the Victorian nostalgia for
things medieval.
However post WWII Inappropriate use of timber with poor detailing, finishes,
etc., gave timber a bad name.
It was not until the last 35 or so years or so that timber has shaken off the
middle pig syndrome and achieved real status as a construction material
alongside concrete and steel.
 Prior to the present day lies an 800 + year old tradition of Carpentry that forms the
structural scaffold of many of our most beautiful and spectacular historic buildings,
as recorded in Cecil Hewitts book - Historic English Carpentry.
Extending joints. Some forms of the joint perform better in bending than others. The
keyed stop splayed and tabled scarf with under-squinted abutments, and four face
pegs is among the better, and was commonly used for windmill spars.
 Cecil Hewitt was the son a wagonwright. He meticulously recorded the
carpentry of many historic structures. Each joint illustrated is an example of a
real joint located within one or more historic structures.
Forms of post-head and tie beam joints
More forms of post head and tie beam joints.
Ely Cathedral Octagon and lantern, completed 1342. According to Hewitt This huge and
spectacular structure has no direct parentage and no immediate progeny. and is . .
without question the supreme achievement of the English medieval period . .

Internal diameter of the lantern is 30, its

central boss stands 152.6 from the floor.
 Exeter Cathedral nave and transept roof carpentry. Completed in 1342 by
Thomas Witney, master mason and carpenter and designer (architect). Note
the sophisticates use of lapped housing joints.
Lincoln Cathedral north west transept 1762 65. Hewitt debates whether this is a bad
piece of carpentry since its structural integrity is wholly dependant upon their
ironwork.
 The Barley Barn, Cressing Temple, Essex, c.1200. Clever use of lap joints give
withdrawing strength to the passing braces, collars, cross braces and brace struts,
making the structure very strong.

Source previous 8 slides: Cecil Hewitt- Historic |English Carpentry.

 Part of George Ellis joint classification from his seminal work Modern Practical
Carpentry. First impression 1906.

Extending
joints.
1 and 2 fish
plate scarfs.
3 14
carpentry
scarf joints.

Transverse
joints.
15 18
lapped joints
19 25
cogged
joints.
Joint classification continued. Tenon and birds-mouth joints.
The use of steel to strengthen joints was more common post 1800
Some examples of chamber joisting. NB. The solid timber is strictly not for show!
The roof of the third Covent Garden Theatre. Completed 1858. Note the span of
82.0 and the bay spans of 13.2
The Cubbitts truss and Belfast truss. Many truss connection components such as the
apex detail and truss brace shoe were available off the shelf in cast-iron.
Composite trusses. These styles of truss was very common in the early 19thC.
St Michaels church, Tenterden, c. 1900. An example of mechanically
laminated timber or mechlam construction.
Blackfriars Bridge Centering. Note the use of sophisticated folding wedges to facilitate release of
the temporary centering, and the doubled up lapped cleats clasping the radial beams

Source previous 8 slides: George Ellis Modern Practical Carpentry.

Carpentry joints (without the use of steel to strengthen) are not generally know for
their capacity in tension, although there are some notable exceptions. The anchor
beam joint, or wedged and pegged through tenon is one example.
Source: Jack Sobon Historic American Joinery.
 Bow String Truss. Winslade Down House

The Green Oak Carpentry Company. Drawn by Mike Shally

 2. Kizhi Island.

Kizhi Island is a Unesco World Heritage site. Situated in Russia -

province of Karelia, near the Arctic Circle. Kizhi museum was the life
work of academic Alexander Opolovnikov.
 Church of the Transfiguration.
Built 1714 it has 22 onion domes. The Main timber used in the
construction is Pine. (Pinus Sylvestris)
Church of the Intercession.
9 domes.
Durable Aspen shingles clad the domes.
Detail of construction of the domes.
Karelian style farmhouse.
Karelian style farmhouse.
 Some details of log joints.
Joints were caulked with moss, animal fur and other materials.
Some further examples of log joints from Central Europe

Source: Klaus Zwerger Wood and Wood joints

Chapel of the Archangel Mikhael - Early 18th century.
Pine boards clad the roof - cleft and adzed hollow.
Interior of Chapel of the Archangel Mikhael.
 Open type Post Mill. Logs cleft and hewn into planks
before jointing to keep the weight of the structure down.
Good hat and good boots!
Small Cabin. Note the timber ridge cap and gutters hewn from the log.
Small Cabin. Gutter bracket and gutter detail.
Small Cabin side elevation. Note the falls on the gutters.
Fish drying racks and fence made form pine saplings.
 Pine (Pinus Sylvestris) the principle construction timber of many of the buildings in
Northern Europe, is not known for its durability in Britain. However slow grown in the
northern latitudes its durability can be remarkable.

This small 6 diameter log is over 60 years old!

 The carpenters Tool Kit:
The Felling Axe; Side Axe for hewing; Adze for hollowing and shaping; and
the Auger for drilling holes and thats all . . . . well - almost!

Source: R. A. Salaman Dictionary of Woodworking Tools

 3. Bedales Theatre
Architect
Fielden Clegg
Bradley
Studios

Engineer
Ian Duncan
Structure One

Timber Structure
Carpenter Oak
and Woodland
Co Ltd
Elevated walkway in atrium.
 The atrium is basically an aisled barn structure

Drawings courtesy of Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios

The main auditorium
 Auditorium Trusses

This and other drawings courtesy of Structure One

 Truss details. 1

Detail of connection at lower tie to corner Detail of diagonal strut to lower tie.
brace
 Truss details. 2

Detail of corner brace to upper tie. Detail of Gibb and Cotter connection.
Internal view of auditorium showing trusses and tendons
supporting the seating areas.
Backstage Truss
Connection details of backstage truss
 Exploded view of structure

Isometric drawings courtesy of Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios

Detail of top of main posts in auditorium
Working out 3 way and 4 way joints to avoid tenon clashes

Drawing by Henry Russell.

 The structure utilises Larch roof cladding.

Photos courtesy of Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios

 4. Sheffield Winter Gardens

Architect
Pringle
Richards
Sharratt
Architects

Engineer:
Buro Happold

Timber
Structure
Finnforest
Merc
Assembly showing connection of main arch beams.
Assembling the structure
Extract from Jacob Leupolds treatise on Why timber bends, breaks and remains stiff,
and how it can be made rigid, 1726.
 Early forms of laminated structures before the advent of bonded timber laminations.
Timber Bridge in Wetingen. Switzerland. Illustrated in an early treatise on timber. Built by
master carpenter Hans Ulrich Grubenmann 1764 66. Two large parallel laminated arches
were formed using pinned interlocking planks spanning 61 metres.
 Emy and Ormes forms of mechanical lamination. Emys Description dun
nouveau system darcs was published in 1828. His system involved bending
planks of timber and pining them together with additional clamps, Ormes of
forming shaped flat planks on edge and nailing them together.
Arch foot detail.
Arch pin connections. And bracing struts
Photos
courtesy
of
Fielden
Clegg
Bradley
Studios
 5. Napier University
Based on geodesic principles, the structure measures 27m long, 20m wide x
11m high
Architect
Building design
Partnership
Glasgow

Project Engineer
Building Design
Partnership
London

Timber Engineer
John Westmucket
Symonds
Group Ltd

Timber Structure
Cowley Structural
Timberworks
Ltd
The nearly finished building.
Full size workshop mock-up
 The Cowley Connector.
The outer sleeve is bonded into the Kerto LVL ribs with a poly urethane type adhesive,
the inner threaded section is then screwed into the nodal connector.
The Cowley Connector
The Cowley Connector
Edge detail
Completed structure before cladding. Skin formed of 3 layers of grade 4 OSB
bonded to achieve curvature of structure to receive Titanium cladding
Sprayed PU foam thermal insulation and vapour control, plus
100mm of quilt thermal/acoustic insulation.
Internal View of completed building. Birch faced ply internal linings treated
with (Envirograph) fire retardant as are the exposed section of the ribs.
Photos, drawings etc., courtesy of Gordon Cowley
 6. Marlow Academy
Based on geodesic principles like the Napier building. The structure has a span of
22 metres and is 68 metres long, yet the ribs are only 300 x 75 Kerto LVL .

Architect
Building design
Partnership
Glasgow

Project Engineer
Building Design
Partnership
London

Timber Engineer
John Westmucket
Symonds Group
Ltd

Timber Structure
Cowley Structural
Timberworks Ltd
Cowley Connector
Photos, drawings etc., courtesy of Gordon Cowley
 7. The Downland Gridshell

Architect
Edward Cullinan
Architects

Engineer:
Buro Happold

Timber Structure
The Green Oak
Carpentry
Company
Architectural concept developed in conjunction with Ted Cullinan, Michael
Dickson (Buro Happold) and Chistopher Zeuner (then director of the Weald
and Downland Open Air Museum)
Drawings Steve Johnson.
EC Architects
Model produced by Buro Happold for HLF Application.
The Archive Store
Laminated whitewood main floor beams
Archive store with 105mm thick T+G whitewood plank lid complete, end
walls assembled and perimeter partially prepared to receive gridshell.
Edge detail at shell floor level.
Lath production.
Scaffold ready for assembly of shell grid
 The Node Clamp. Initially the idea was to slot the laths to allow them to slide over each
other as the shell was manipulated from flat into its doubly curved form. The node clamp
illustrated here allows this to take place whilst avoiding costly machining of the timber.
Layers 2 and 3 are pinned together via the central steel plate and represent the neutral axis.
Walk the line . . . .
Lattice complete and on the way
Going . . . . .
Going . . . .
Still going . . . .
Gone!
Shell edge fixings.
Edge blocking.
Basic shell form completed.
Laminating the Boundary Arches.
Shaping the boundary arch sections and slotting for flitch plate attachment.
Boundary arch assembly complete.
Ribbon roof assembly
Ribbon roof construction details. Note the use of bonded in rods for the
turned struts.
WRC Cladding boards.
Completed structure.
 8. The Savill Gridshell
Architect
Glen Howells
Architects

Gridshell
Engineer
Buro Happold

Timber Structure
The Green Oak
Carpentry
Company
Edge condition and blocking prior to fitting layers 3 and 4.
Photos of the Savill Building courtesy of Warren
THANK YOU