Lamella board

[edit] Meaning

Lamella means simply a thin layer, plate or membrane of tissue or material. In medical terms lamella usually refers to the same thin layer, leaf, plate, or wafer of bone tissue, in construction detail that layer can be of various thicknesses and made from a variety of materials.

[edit] Uses

Lamella board in consruction is a term used to describe a variety of engineered construction products made from different types of timber or biomas to minerals and polymers. Lamella and veneer might be used interchangeably but veneer usually refers to a very thin layer (most often tiber), whilst a lamella might be slightly thicker. The term lamella is also used at the scheme design rather than product detail scale, to describe structures made up of smaller, often flatter, component parts, these two directional elements interlink to form structural forms, gaining their strength from by acting as a whole in grid systems with large spans. The word lamellar is also used to describe a type of flat dowel used in biscuit joinery.

[edit] Timber boards

Timber lamella board normally simply refers to a product, solid or composite that is finished with a lamella, often of finished wood, as might be used in flooring products. It is common for lamella to refer to solid timber flooring products that are faced with a hard and attractive wood, they are relatively thick, thus more hard wearing and suitable for flooring. Veneers are usually thinner and decorative, used as the final the finishes of timber furniture.

[edit] Mineral boards

Mineral wool lamellas and lamella boards describe composite products that contain a layer of compressed mineral wool, they are often emplyed to increase fire resistance and potentially for thermal resistance. These types of products may be found as an element of cladding systems in buildings, often as the external denser layer of insulation beneath and rainscreen of finish material.

[edit] Structural systems

A lamella (or lamellar) structures are normally made up of a series of smaller component parts, often of the same material and one that could itself, potenially be a lamella board but not in every case. The primary and definitive characteristic of these structures is that smaller interlocking elements join together and as a whole to create larger structures or gridshells. The term may more specifically refer to a a structure made up of two dimensional linear plates that are cut into certain shapes that interlink or slot together, gaining strength from their depth rather than thickness and interlocking design. The availablity of CNC cutters or 2D routing in the 1980's saw a variety of lamella type structure made up of computer generated and cut two dimensional flat shaps that interlock to create three dimensional open structures such as pavillions.

[edit] Joinery

Lamellar is sometimes the term used to describe the oval shaped compressed wood chips, also known as biscuits, which are inserted into slots cut into pieces of wood being joined, along with glue. The lamellars, lamellas or biscuits are exactly the correct gauge for the slot, so the joint stays tightly compressed in position, and once the glue is dry, gives added strength to the joint.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Braced frame.
• Biscuit joint.
• Chipboard.
• Cross-laminated timber.
• Domestic roofs.
• Engineered bamboo.
• Glulam.
• Gridshell.
• Laminate.
• Long span roof.
• Reconstituted board products.
• Sheathing.
• Space frame.
• Skeleton frame.
• Timber engineered structural frames.
• Timber gridshell.
• Timber roof.
• Types of frame.
• Types of timber.
• Types of roof.
• Types of structural load.
• Veneer.