How-to: Braced facades with window openings

Wood-frame buildings must withstand high horizontal loads. However, conventional wall panels are not allowed to have openings. Window and door areas are therefore considered non-load-bearing. This restricts design options and results in less efficient structural systems.

The BFH is therefore researching walls with openings that function as fully load-bearing elements despite the openings. The results show that such wall panels can be structurally more efficient and offer significantly greater architectural freedom.

Timbatec translates research findings directly into practical applications. We develop structural concepts, design bracing systems, and establish design principles for innovative wall panels. These elements function like conventional wood-frame walls—but with superior performance.

Compelling Reasons to Choose WMOE – A Compact Guide for Architects

• Load-bearing despite openings: Walls provide full structural reinforcement, even with windows and doors. This offers greater freedom in facade design and creates opportunities for room openings.
  
  
• More efficient structural design: Walls often perform better than segmented systems. A slimmer construction requires less material, which in turn optimizes costs.
  
  
• Greater sustainability: Material savings and efficient components improve the environmental footprint. Future-oriented solutions without architectural compromises.
  
  
• Practical implementation: Timbatec develops all structural foundations for manufacturing. This guarantees reliable planning, defined interfaces, and smooth implementation.
  
  

• A proven system taken to the next level: The wood-frame construction method remains the foundation, but is intelligently reinforced. This ensures planning reliability through proven and familiar construction methods with expanded potential.
  
  
• Greater design freedom: Openings can be placed where they make architectural sense and are aesthetically desirable. Generous windows on flexible floor plans enhance the architectural design potential.
  

WMOE makes timber construction more structurally efficient and architecturally flexible. An innovative approach that opens up new possibilities—while building on proven construction practices. Timbatec combines research and implementation for challenging projects in modern timber construction.

The new terminal building at the Port of Basel on the Rhine demonstrates how WMOE technology is making the transition from theory to practice. Despite high seismic loads and the absence of internal bracing walls, the timber-frame facade with its numerous openings provides safe structural bracing along the building’s longitudinal axis. Thanks to an advantageous window arrangement, nearly the entire facade area can be structurally activated. The result is a three-story timber building completed in 2026 that is already prepared for a future addition—a clear example of the performance capabilities of modern wall panels with openings.

The project featuring this innovative timber construction was professionally executed by the timber construction division of Stamm Bau AG, based in Arlesheim.

^© Photos: Stamm Bau AG, Arlesheim, and Timbatec Holzbauingenieure Schweiz AG

The foundations of this innovation were laid out in the bachelor’s thesis of our colleague
Fabian Schlatter:

Structural analysis of wood-frame buildings with wall panels containing openings.

Available below for reading and downloading.