THE FABRICATED FOREST:
EXPLORING TURNING RECLAIMED TIMBER INTO
STRUCTURAL GLULAM LOG FORMS

Significant quantities of construction and demolition wood waste (CDWW) are produced, most of which are disposed of in landfills; this waste has detrimental environmental effects. Moreover, several pieces of wood that can be reused for structural purposes have been neglected and regarded as timber waste. The circular economy (CE) is considered a feasible solution in this situation, as it involves effectively retrieving resources and minimising waste. Nevertheless, it has seldom been considered or implemented.

Reuse, as opposed to recycling, preserves the maximum value of construction materials while eradicating the need to acquire new ones. Hence, timber can be repurposed into glued-laminated timber (glulam), replacing carbon-intensive materials like steel or concrete. This thesis advocates glulam as an appropriate advanced wood technique for transforming reclaimed timber into glulam and increasing the value of circularity.

This project, as a thesis, aims to increase the value of the wood circulation economy (CE) by converting reclaimed timber to structural glulam log forms. In addition, it will demonstrate that the life of the material can be prolonged by speculating on the possibility of repurposing glulam reclaimed log forms upon dismantling.