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During my architecture internship at ArtBuild Architects, I worked within a research and development laboratory (ABLAB) focused on new material strategies for architecture, with a strong emphasis on bioeconomy, biomimetism, biodiversity, and bio-sourced construction systems. This context allowed me to explore how timber-based materials can be rethought not only as structural components, but also as adaptable, reusable, and culturally meaningful architectural elements.

The project focused on the revalorization of large Cross-Laminated Timber panels, each measuring approximately 5 meters high by 1.60 meters wide, after their previous use for the Forum Bois at the Grand Palais. Rather than treating these panels as temporary construction material, the research aimed to extend their life cycle through a new technical and architectural transformation.

The core investigation was based on a method of cold-bending CLT through a controlled system of regularly spaced cuts. This technique consists of machining a flat timber panel with a precise sequence of extrusions or cut-outs, creating a lattice-like structure inside the material. These cuts generate internal “torsion legs,” allowing parts of the panel to twist on their own axis and progressively absorb deformation. In the lattice hinge method, the length and spacing of these torsion elements directly influence the flexibility and curvature radius of the panel.

The process makes it possible to bend a rigid CLT sheet without steam, heat, or heavy industrial forming. Once the panel is cold-bent into the desired curvature, it can be mechanically constrained and stabilized. This approach opens new possibilities for transforming standard mass-timber panels into curved architectural surfaces, while maintaining a logic of precision, economy of means, and material intelligence .

The research was informed by experimental architectural precedents such as the Ephemeral Auditorium in Paris by ArtBuild Architects, where CLT panels were machined, slotted, lifted, and cold-bent over formwork to reach a defined curvature. This type of approach demonstrates how a flat industrial timber product can become a flexible architectural surface through a precise relationship between geometry, cuts, and structural behavior.

Within my internship, this technique became a way to question the future of reused timber panels. The objective was not only to produce a curved form, but to develop a strategy for material reactivation: giving a second architectural life to existing CLT elements through design, fabrication, and controlled deformation. The panels were treated as resources with embedded value, rather than as waste or single-use exhibition component.

This project therefore sits at the intersection of circular design, timber innovation, digital fabrication, and bio-sourced architecture. By working with the intrinsic behavior of wood—its grain, flexibility, layered structure, and capacity to deform under constraint—the research explored a more sensitive and sustainable way of designing with mass timber. It reflects an architectural approach in which material intelligence, ecological responsibility, and constructive experimentation become central to the design process.

Originally designed for the Ephemeral Auditorium at the Grand Palais in Paris, these CLT panels were reimagined beyond their temporary use, reflecting the manufacturers’ ambition to give them a more durable second life and tangible integration.

In partnership with the City of Libramont (BE), the project reactivates an underused green meadow by transforming it into a welcoming and engaging community space.
Through playful and participatory structures, the intervention supports social interaction, local vitality, and a renewed relationship with the landscape.

If you'd like to learn more about this research project, please visit the ArtBuild website and its Lab ! click below to find out more

OSA : THE EPHEMERAL AUDITORIUM

NAUTILUS : CLT EXPLORATION

ZachariLorgeoux®

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A nice mixture of handcrafted products and graphic design. My designer soul is filled with material, textures and color researches and developpement. Helped by social problematics.

A nice mixture of handcrafted products and graphic design.
My designer soul is filled with material, textures and color researches and developpement.
Helped by social problematics.