Configuration processing and construction of large-span karbandi vaults: a case of the karbandi vaulting of Haj-Mohammad-Qoli Timche in Tabriz Historic Bazaar Amir Amjad Mohammadi and Hadi Safaeipour Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Reza Chenaghlou Department of Civil Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran Alireza Behnejad Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, and Roham Afghani Khoraskani Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Abstract Purpose – This paper aims at discovering the traditional techniques of Persian architecture for covering large- span spaces with a kind of ribbed vault titled “Karbandi”. This structure is generated by intersecting several arches with a harmonic stellar geometry. Preliminary studies show that span factor affects the structural form of karbandi and large-span cases, despite similar architectural forms, have different structural systems and specific construction methods. The main focus of this paper is how karbandi has been designed and built on large-spans. To answer this question, the configuration and construction of a large-span karbandi in Tabriz Bazaar were recognized. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection of the research was initially done in three parallel directions through the archival study of restoration documents, direct observation of the corpus of the vaultings and interviews with the master mason of the Haj-Mohammad-Qoli Timche restoration team. Then by cross-referencing the gathered data, the construction process of the karbandi was simulated in Rhino 6 and Grasshoppers software and its BIM-M models were created in three levels of development: LOD300, LOD350 and LOD400. In the next step, the preliminary BIM-M models of the karbandi were presented to the interviewed mason and revised and completed based on his comments. Findings – Analyzing the BIM models by reverse engineering, resulted in (1) Discovering a unique self- supporting masonry construction method applied for the erection of karbandi vaulting on large-spans. (2) Finding the effect of scale factor on the architectural and structural form of the karbandi vault. (3) Discovering the connection types of the karbandi vault based on the construction details. Originality/value – Despite the wide applications of karbandi vaults throughout history, very little information of their construction techniques is available. The techniques have mostly been experientially and Large-span karbandi vaults This paper has been extracted from Amir Amjad Mohammadi’s Ph.D. thesis entitled “Recognition and Algorithm Development of the Karbandi Construction Process, Case Study: Large-Span Karbandi Vaults of Tabriz Historic Bazaar” at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. The research was carried out under the supervision of Dr. Hadi Safaeipour and Dr. Mohammad Reza Chenaghlou, Dr. Alireza Behnejad and Dr. Roham Afghani Khoraskani. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0969-9988.htm Received 6 April 2022 Revised 18 July 2022 Accepted 2 August 2022 Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management © Emerald Publishing Limited 0969-9988 DOI 10.1108/ECAM-04-2022-0306