XLam is often considered the new green version of reinforced concrete perfect for civil, residential and other buildings.
It is a wood panel made from extremely versatile cross-fiber rough planking that replaces traditional brick masonry. Similar to traditional masonry, XLam simultaneously provides protection from the outside and load-bearing capacity.
XLam like all masonry has a linear development so compared to framed structures it naturally provides strong stiffness along its central axis. An XLam masonry is a splendid bracing blade that, with great stiffness, supports the horizontal thrusts produced by wind and earthquake. It allows us to build houses in any type of architecture, both traditional and contemporary, guaranteeing a very high reserve of resistance even in case of very violent seismic events and extreme weather conditions.
Well known on all continents-in English CLT cross laminated timber due to its strength reserve-of the characteristics that make it more performant even than concrete. In many parts of the world it is used to make the strong central core in multi-story buildings by ensuring bracing action-that is, resistance to horizontal thrusts-even in very tall buildings such as small skyscrapers.
The ease of fabrication and assembly, combined with the absolute performance guarantee make it still a real workhorse in our projects for us.
Without therefore taking anything away from other construction systems of wooden houses such as the Platform frame or the Balloon frame, XLam remains a very versatile panel that allows us to create buildings with a level of safety double or triple what the constructive standard applicable in Italy and also in other European countries may require. It is therefore a of a very safe system that has been tried and tested for more than two decades now and made of our Veneto region by companies that are also highly competitive internationally.
As engineers we do not have a tie to a particular manufacturer or manufacturer or a particular construction technology and therefore feel free to choose very often however the choice comes back to XLam which combined with glulam, i.e. glulam beam, remains a very efficient and experienced construction system for us.