This thesis presents methods for upcycling and designing low-engineered free-form timber structure with offcuts—a waste material from timber production. In particular, the focus is on the development of a complete design-to-fabrication workflow that includes the measuring and assembly of offcuts, thus closing the digital chain. The process is streamlined to minimize material waste and facilitate the disassembly and reassembly of offcut structures. In the end, the workflow provides great flexibility and enables the design and realization of a wide range of architectural and structural typologies. However, these potentials are challenged by (1) the high complexity of the offcuts' non-standard geometries, (2) the spatial relationship between the bespoke elements of an assembly, and (3) the condition of the material.

This research investigated these complex challenges and developed appropriate tools for an architectural design process with upcycled timber. Primarily, these include computational design methods and tools to align and orient offcuts, compute wood joints, and thus to address design-specific parameters. The resulting information was used in integrated data workflows to generate and process fabrication-relevant data. Thereby, it informed and facilitated the handcrafting and robotic fabrication of several prototypes.

The relevance of this work is demonstrated through the design, robotic fabrication, and assembly of a 1:1 demonstrator. It proved that the integrated design-to-fabrication workflow is feasible to construct low-engineered free-form timber structures with offcuts, and, particularly, that these structures are both structurally and aesthetically viable. In addition, the material-aware design tool is able to minimize fabrication waste and to conceive structures that follow the principle of design-for-disassembly—further contributing to the sustainability of the concept.