The building was designed by Danish architecture firm Cobe. The architectural concept, design, and choice of materials reflects green thinking, allowing for the use of renewable resources and focusing on the sustainable use of materials.
This station was built as part of CLEVER’s network of electric car charging stations. ZAZA TIMBER has been working on the project since 2020. As of August 2025 ZAZA TIMBER have built 184 canopies in 26 locations in Denmark and Norway.
Expand tabs below to learn about structural design, manufacturing and assembly aspects of a station in Frederiksberg. In the course of building the EV charging network continuous improvements were made too – read about them in a separate article here.
ZAZA TIMBER Engineering consulted Danish engineers ABC Rådgivende Ingeniører (AB Clausen) on connections and developed the structure details, as well as designing the roof panels and their fastenings.
The most significant developments:
- A solution with high-strength fully threaded screws was used to connect the tensile zone of the narrow cantilevered beam with the steel part.
- The direction of the cantilevered beam’s fiber was changed (so it would be parallel to the top part instead of bottom part) so there would not be cross-cut fibers in the tensile zone. This approach improves the load-bearing capacity and increases safety.
- Other connections were also improved using more modern hidden connections.
- For the central column, we chose to use a special steel which can be coated with a zinc layer more than 200 microns thick, which improves the longevity of the steel.
For timber parts most exposed to the elements, we used Accoya acetylated wood.
From a manufacturing point of view, this was a simple project for us. The total volume of the structures was 6,88 m3. The structures made for the columns had a strength category of GL24h, while the beams had a strength category of GL30h.
Cuts, drilling and sawing were done in the factory.
Glulam structures (beams and columns) were made from FSC-certified spruce wood.
ZAZA TIMBER Construction did assembly of the building in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen in 6 days. Before assembly in Denmark, we prefabricated roof panels. This enabled us to complete work on the construction site in short term with and almost entirely without building waste.
As this charging station was to provide “green” energy, the architecture, materials, and concept were also “green” and demanding in terms of sustainability, choice of materials, manufacture, and construction solutions. The architects were Danish architecture office COBE. The station was manufactured and built in a way that would be easy to disassemble and recycle or upcycle the materials.
The concept of using sustainable materials in this project meant the use of timber for the main structures: glued spruce, Accoya and plywood. The roof of the structure is covered in plants, having been designed as an extensive green sedum (stonecrop) roof requiring minimal upkeep.
Considerations for the suitable use of materials and design meant that steel parts were integrated into the design. The timber structures were treated to ensure they were long lasting but also to maintain the visual texture of wood. For surface treatment we used colourless priming oil Flugger 01 Wood Tex Oil Primer, for finishing - semi-matt transparent wood protection Flugger 03 Wood Tex Transparent.
To load the screws correctly and evenly, it was important to tighten them with a constant torque not exceeding the load-bearing capacity. A special screwdriver was therefore used that controls the torque by computer.
Some of the construction details were delivered directly to the construction site, which simplified the logistics and reduced the environmental impact of the transportation.
