Category: Switzerland

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Report # 108 : Half-timbered house in the “border triangle” (Fachwerkhaus im Dreiländereck)

by Maria D. Bostenaru

This type of construction can be found in both the urban and rural areas of Germany, Switzerland, northern France, and England. The main load-bearing structure is timber frame. Brick masonry, adobe, or wooden planks are used as infill materials depending on the region. This report deals with the two latter types, because they are located in areas where strong earthquakes occur every century. However, this construction has proven particularly safe, and some of the buildings have existed for 700 years. These buildings have characteristic windows and a rectangular floor plan, with rooms opening to a central hall, which were later replaced by a courtyard. Typically, each housing unit is occupied by a single family. While in the past this was the housing of the poor, today affluent families live in these historic buildings. The load-bearing structure consists of a timbered joists and posts forming a single system with adobe or wooden infill. The walls consist of a colonnade of pillars supported by a threshold on the lower side and stiffened by crossbars and struts in the middle. On the upper part they are connected by a “Rahmholz.” The roof is steep with the gable overlooking the street. The floors consist of timber joists parallel to the gable plane with inserted ripples. The only notable seismic deficiency is the design for gravity loads only, while numerous earthquake-resilient features – the presence of diagonal braces, the achievement of equilibrium, the excellent connections between the bearing elements, the similar elasticity of the materials used (wood and eventually adobe) and the satisfactory three-dimensional conformation – have completely prevented patterns of earthquake damage. Since 1970, buildings in Switzerland are regulated by earthquake codes (latest update 1989). The 2002 edition will incorporate EC8 recommendations.

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Report # 119 : Urban residential buildings of the 19th century in the city of Basel

by Kerstin Lang, Hugo Bachmann

This building type was mainly constructed as residential buildings in the second half of the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century in the vastly expanding city of Basel, but also in other Swiss cities. The buildings are made of unreinforced masonry with timber floors, are four to five stories high and are attached to each other. The unreinforced masonry walls are usually made of simple stone (more or less regularly cut) or brick masonry, the thickness of the stone masonry walls being larger. The mortar used is usually lime mortar. In some cases, a mixed masonry was used, especially at the ground floors, with larger, well cut stones for the outer layer of the façade walls and simple stones or bricks arranged behind. The buildings are rather regular in plan and elevation. However, the timber floors are often not anchored to the masonry walls and the front and back façades usually have rather large openings for the windows whereas the side walls are solid walls used as fire division wall. The seismic performance of these buildings is expected to be rather poor.

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Posted on

Report # 108 : Half-timbered house in the “border triangle” (Fachwerkhaus im Dreiländereck)

by Maria D. Bostenaru

This type of construction can be found in both the urban and rural areas of Germany, Switzerland, northern France, and England. The main load-bearing structure is timber frame. Brick masonry, adobe, or wooden planks are used as infill materials depending on the region. This report deals with the two latter types, because they are located in areas where strong earthquakes occur every century. However, this construction has proven particularly safe, and some of the buildings have existed for 700 years. These buildings have characteristic windows and a rectangular floor plan, with rooms opening to a central hall, which were later replaced by a courtyard. Typically, each housing unit is occupied by a single family. While in the past this was the housing of the poor, today affluent families live in these historic buildings. The load-bearing structure consists of a timbered joists and posts forming a single system with adobe or wooden infill. The walls consist of a colonnade of pillars supported by a threshold on the lower side and stiffened by crossbars and struts in the middle. On the upper part they are connected by a “Rahmholz.” The roof is steep with the gable overlooking the street. The floors consist of timber joists parallel to the gable plane with inserted ripples. The only notable seismic deficiency is the design for gravity loads only, while numerous earthquake-resilient features – the presence of diagonal braces, the achievement of equilibrium, the excellent connections between the bearing elements, the similar elasticity of the materials used (wood and eventually adobe) and the satisfactory three-dimensional conformation – have completely prevented patterns of earthquake damage. Since 1970, buildings in Switzerland are regulated by earthquake codes (latest update 1989). The 2002 edition will incorporate EC8 recommendations.

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