The idea of using wood as a building material is something that dates back thousands of years, but the notion that it is somehow the material of the past has been challenged heavily by the fact that it is not only sustainable, but has qualities that remain timeless.
Just like stone, which has also been used since time immemorial, wood is a material that can be found in ancient buildings and structures completed yesterday. That it can be grown and managed sustainably ensures that it deals with environmental issues in two ways, both through its insulating qualities and its organic characteristics.
A Towering Problem For Timber
However, any chance that it could be used in an innovative new way in the UK as a major component material in tall buildings literally went up in flames in June 2017. The Grenfell Tower was not a wooden building, but the fire safety concerns it raised meant that a range of restrictive regulations were introduced concerning the use of timber in construction.
These particularly concerned heights, with wood-dominated buildings not permitted to be more than 18 metres in height. This came at a time when London and other major cities have been building higher and higher, especially in their central areas. Even buildings between 11 and 18 metres high faced stringent conditions on the use of wood.
It could all have been very different. When Boris Johnson was still mayor of London, he was presented with, and impressed by, a proposed design for a 300-metre wooden tower that would be located in the City of London close to the Barbican.
This would have easily been the tallest wooden building in the world, the current record holder being an 85.4 metre tower completed in Norway in 2019.
A Low-Rise Self-Build Alternative
However, while the mass of new residential towers rising up across London and in the central areas of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool are dominated by steel and glass, there is still a role for timber frame manufacturers in providing homes for Britain’s growing urban populations.
A fine example of this has recently been completed in Wimbledon, as highlighted in Architects Journal.
Designed by architect Erbar Mattes, the self-built timber-framed home has brick and stone casting with lime mortar, ensuring that despite its different internal structural materials, the exterior appearance is in keeping with the neighbouring Edwardian properties.
The site itself was previously occupied by a 1930s home with poor insulation and low ceilings, making its successor a big improvement. The journal noted key features include the high, vaulted spaces, giving it a sense of roominess, so often something at a premium in London.
Nor is the wood just to be found in the timber frame, with an oak staircase being a central element and, of course, a more visible reminder of the appeal of this natural material.
Describing the building, director of Erbar Mattes Demian Erbar said: “Engineered to operate with significantly lower energy consumption than a standard home, the design contributes to reduced carbon emissions and running costs.”
This highlights the clear benefits of a timber framed home in a suburban setting; it can blend in with the historic built environment, while having features that give it vastly superior energy performance, not to mention better use of space and capacity to make the most of natural light.
The Difference Between Rural And Urban Self-Builds
Of course, this is not how a self-built home may look everywhere. If you are a self-builder constructing a timber framed home out in the countryside, your nearest neighbour may not even be on the same road. There will, therefore, be no pressure to match up to an architectural style. A more eclectic or novel style may get planning permission.
This, plus the availability of land, may make self-builds more popular in rural areas, as will the existence of initiatives such as Teignbridge Council’s rule that any development of over 20 homes must set aside space for at least five per cent to be self-built, or large tracts of land dedicated to self-building such as the Graven Hill site in Bicester.
Nonetheless, when opportunities do arise for self-build projects in cities, even instances where just a single home can be built, the possibilities for timber frames to make their mark – even concealed below buff-coloured brick like the home in Wimbledon – is significant.
It may well be that developers constructing large apartment blocks across our cities cannot and will not use much wood in them. But those building smaller homes in the suburbs could take inspiration from what self-build projects have shown can be done, capitalising on the still substantial role timber can play in urban residential construction.