This pioneering project uses large panelised Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) to create affordable, stacked workspaces in an urban setting. It is the UK’s first multi storey light industrial building constructed from mass timber of its scale. The five-storey building was commissioned to provide 14 affordable workspace units, ideally suited to creative and light industrial small businesses.The project exemplifies collaborative effort across disciplines, from structural engineers to fire consultants to ensure the realisation of a mass timber structure that meets stringent fire safety and robustness criteria.
An impressive use of CLT to achieve a clean and satisfying structural design. The project team successfully addressed strategic issues like fire safety, long-term durability, and robustness in timber.
The building's design needed to integrate hidden connections that meet fire safety requirements, while also exposing the CLT walls and ceilings internally. This exposed design required rigorous testing and approvals, particularly in the post-Grenfell regulatory environment.
The project is a scalable model for sustainable urban industrial development and sets new benchmarks in assessing embodied carbon and material efficiency in timber construction and provided valuable data for future projects.