Working with Kontio, the biggest log home manufacturer in the world, Timehouse Oy helped create an all-informed BIM system for timber construction.
Timehouse Oy implemented an extension on top of the Archicad software, where all logs, pillars, and, columns modeled with the ArchiLogs CAD program are taken directly to the production line, and the results can be seen here:
This was about marrying design with production. ArchiLogs and ArchiFrame (both Archicad extensions) are used by Kontio to design log houses, and the software implemented by Timehouse now extracts key production data from the log home model and takes it to the production line in an automated way.
Technically, this meant converting CNC data with all plank and column machinings into the desired XML format. Kontio also needed some custom machinings and grooves for its logs, including an off-centre drilling at the end of the log with a varying depth parameter and custom shaping for log ends. All this was done by Timehouse’s C++ coding team.
The ability to produce planks and columns in the same production line with logs meant that all timber material could be produced in the factory together. This all-informed way of building log homes is just one of the ways in which Kontio is a pioneer in log home manufacturing.
Another interesting feature we worked on was the addition of the glass house object to the column object in GDL. This allowed for the combining of logs and glass in Kontio buildings.
These customisations implemented by Timehouse create a genuine design-to-production pipeline for innovative timber buildings that make the most of all building materials.
More information about Kontio here: https://www.kontio.com/en/
