Abstract A nonlinear staged construction analysis is adopted here to simulate the forming process of timber gridshell. In this respect, particular attention is paid to the modelling of the cylindrical joints connecting the orthogonal laths. Cylindrical joints enable the initially flat lattice to be formed into a doubly curved gridshell shape; therefore, accurate modelling of the joints’ mechanical behaviour is a crucial aspect when simulating the forming process of timber gridshells. Another important parameter influencing the gridshell shape is the orientation of laths making up the initially flat lattice. Using an equivalent continuum definition, the final geometry of the gridshells, obtained from different laths orientations, is analysed in here to assess how laths orientation affects the structural shape in terms of funicularity. The Relaxed Funicularity Ellipse method presented in Gabriele et al. (2018) is used for such purpose.