Adressing the Challenges in the Holistic Design of Taller Timber Buildings – Cost Action Helen

Designing multi-storey buildings in timber is often more demanding than in concrete or steel. It is therefore crucial to address taller multi-storey timber buildings from a collaborative and interdisciplinary perspective, considering static, dynamic, fire, acoustic, human health and other aspects simultaneously and not in isolation. Only through interdisciplinary analysis and interaction can a set of holistic design guidelines be developed that will enable safe and economic construction of taller timber buildings, as well as respect comfort and human wellbeing demands. In this paper, the work carried out in COST Action HELEN is presented, and the main activities and outcomes are discussed.