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Architecture vocabulary · Materials and Construction

Timber

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈtɪmbər/nounCore term

In architecture, timber means: Wood prepared for building, used for structures, floors, cladding, windows and furniture; engineered products like cross-laminated timber are used in multi-storey buildings.

In Turkish: ahşap, kereste

How it is used

British English says timber; American English says lumber for sawn wood and wood or mass timber in general. Architects talk about timber frames, timber cladding and CLT. Timber is a key topic in low-carbon design.

Example sentences

  1. The school has a timber frame and a timber facade that will turn grey over time.

  2. Using cross-laminated timber cut the building's embodied carbon significantly.

Common collocations

  • timber frame
  • timber cladding
  • cross-laminated timber
  • mass timber
  • timber structure
  • claddingThe outer layer of material fixed to a building's walls to protect it from the weather and give it its appearance, such as stone, metal panels, timber or ceramic.
  • embodied carbonThe carbon emissions from producing, transporting and installing a building's materials, and later from maintaining and demolishing it, as opposed to emissions from its energy use.
  • steel frameA structure of steel columns and beams joined together, which carries the floors and roof and makes large open spaces and tall buildings possible.
  • sustainable designDesigning buildings to use less energy, water and materials, to reduce carbon emissions and waste, and to provide healthy places for people over their whole life.

More terms: Materials and Construction

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