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Cladding keeps it covered Ecobuild set to excel at ExCeL GHA reinvents motorway services
OPENING SHOTS: The cover and this page show Kebony cladding on the Farris Bath spa hotel in Vestfold, Norway. The building has an atrium that opens towards the Larvik Fjord. It consists of two, two-storey wings and is perched on stilts – half the hotel is literally “in” the water (see feature on pp34-36).
CONTENTS
Editor Mike Jeffree e-mail:
[email protected] Managing editor Sally Spencer e-mail:
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Sub-editor Keren Fallwell e-mail:
[email protected] News editor Stephen Powney e-mail:
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CASE STUDIES
4 8
Country file
Timber frame social housing blends into its rural Scottish setting.
Community work
The restoration of Wood Awards winner Stoke Newington Town Hall has revitalised the local community.
12 Jörnträhus’s new twist on the log Perfect pitch
cabin will be launched at the Ideal Home Show in March.
store 14 Super Marks & Spencer’s new superstore is being billed as a flagship for sustainability.
your service 16 At Glenn Howells Architects is designing motorway services with a difference.
24 The Nu Build project is both a trainDual purpose
ing aid and marketing exercise for modern methods of construction.
PRODUCTS & TECHNICAL the surface 34 On Timber cladding is becoming more popular thanks to its durability and aesthetic appeal.
savings 38 Energy Dynamic insulation is the way to go to save energy, says Energyflo.
reception 40 Warm Sustainable insulation products have become mainstream.
role 44 Ratings The role timber plays in green building energy rating systems varies.
tips 46 Hot TRADA reviews the new HSE guidance on fire safety on site.
in Wales 48 Made TRADA funded further development of the Ty Unnos building system.
VIEWPOINT the agenda 30 On Stewart Milne Timber Systems’ MD
principles 52 Guiding Highlights from TRADA’s new guide on low energy timber frame buildings.
says timber needs to move up the housebuilding industry agenda.
future 32 Forest Architect Tom Noonan has a vision for a new London economy with timber construction at its heart.
REGULARS News 54 Latest developments across the timber building sector.
Chain gang 58 Supply chain collaboration is vital for sustainable construction says the UK Timber Frame Association.
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EVENTS and tell 18 Show Ecobuild is the show to view new
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[email protected] Publishing manager John Lawrence TRADA is technical consultant to Timber & Sustainable Building Timber & Sustainable Building is produced by the publisher of Timber Trades Journal World Market Intelligence Ltd, 2 Maidstone Road, Sidcup DA14 5HZ Tel: 020 8269 7833; fax: 020 8269 7844
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© World Market Intelligence Ltd 2011 ISSN 2041-3645 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. The contents of Timber & Sustainable Building are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems. Subscription price (12 months): UK one year £52; two years £90; Europe one year €96; two years €168; North America one year US$113.50; two years US$209; worldwide one year US$146.50; two years US$242 Subscriptions hotline: Tel: +44 (0) 845 155 1845 (local rate); fax: +44 (0) 20 8606 7877; e-mail:
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products and solutions and promises to be bigger and better than before.
of Oz 28 Wizards The inaugural Trans-Tasman Timber Design Awards aim to raise timber’s profile.
following 43 Dedicated Plans for Timber Expo, the timber industry’s dedicated showcase, are gathering momentum.
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TIMBER FRAME
A PLACE IN THE
COUNTRY
Oliver Chapman Architects chose timber frame for a range of social housing that is sympathetic to is rural setting in the Scottish Borders. Peter Wilson reports
TIMBER FRAME construction has taken a bit of a beating recently, at least if you read the more sensationalist news pages of the UK’s construction industry press. True, there have been some spectacular fires in the London area over the last year or two, but to damn a whole – and otherwise successful industry – on the basis of conflagrations in incomplete and unoccupied constructions on unattended building sites is to deny the long experience that exists outside of our largest metropolitan area in the assembly of timber-framed buildings.
The second phase of the Todlaw development features 12 flats arranged in three blocks of four
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In Scotland, for example, the now infamous 1983 World in Action programme, which until relatively recently largely killed off timber frame in England, did not affect the method’s popularity as the ever-changing weather north of the border makes speedy assembly of walls and roof a housebuilding prerequisite. The effect of this has not only been a 25-year-plus track record of timber frame construction in Scotland but, with buildings up to seven storeys high built regularly and safely, more than 70% of its newbuild housing is formed by this very efficient method. Not that you would know it, because much of this housing is clad in other materials ranging through brick and render to composite panels or metal sheet. This is not
to deny the existence of timber, but merely to respond to market imperatives, local cultural and climatic conditions and increasingly stringent building standards for thermal performance, airtightness and fire. The issue is not about whether to build with timber or not – in Scotland it is nowadays virtually a given – but how to create well-constructed housing that is likely to last a long time, two factors high on the country’s large housing association sector wish list, tasked as it increasingly is with delivering political requirements for affordable housing. Much of this category of accommodation is inevitably to be found in larger urban areas, but the demand is perhaps even stronger in rural locations where job opportunities are limited and wages are low. And with more than 40% of its population living in communities of 20,000 people or fewer, Scotland’s need for exemplary affordable rural housing models is constant. Which brings us to the Scottish Borders, an area of relatively low population but with very distinctive housing needs. At Todlaw on the edge of Duns (pop.10,000), Edinburgh-based Oliver Chapman Architects have been working for several years with Berwickshire Housing Association to deliver a series of newbuild projects ❯
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The brick and timber surfaces are visually separated by the external stairs
The larch cladding is arranged boardon-board – the rear boards are 100mm while the front are 70mm
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TIMBER FRAME
❮ designed to meet a variety of community needs. The first of these – a pair of semi-detached houses – won the Scottish Design Awards Best Affordable Housing design prize in 2006. Since then the practice has gained three further commissions from this client, a significant vote of confidence for a young office and one that now sees the RIBA Regional Award-winning supported housing scheme it completed at Todlaw in 2008 complemented by a £1m second phase development of 12 flats arranged in three blocks of four. This ‘four in a block’ typology is not always associated with quality housing, and it is to the practice’s credit that it has elected to reinterpret a form with strong associations with between- and post-war social housing provision. In this instance, the previous phase of single-storey supported housing established the palette of simple forms, eaves details and materials to be used, but here each of these has been taken to a subtler next stage. Where fibre cement slates had formerly been used for roof and walls to complement vertical larch cladding, the new development sports dark blue engineering bricks on those exteriors that face the open landscape, while softer, more homely shells of Siberian larch cladding implicitly connect the project to its predecessor on the other side of the street. These brick and timber surfaces are visually separated by the external stairs, while the cladding itself is meticulously detailed – the board-on-board arrangement uses 100mm rear boards and 70mm front boards and incorporates a horizontal ‘stitch’ to the inner layer to resolve the ventilation/fire-stop requirement at first floor level. Tongue and groove boards are used to form the soffits of the porch canopies as well as the side linings to the external stairs. Colour too, connects this new phase of building with its predecessor, with wood ash (grey), storm (olive), green and charcoal stains from the Vaalti range providing a crisp, but subdued finish to the timber on the three blocks.
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This is very deliberately not an ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ approach to architecture, but one that seeks to find its place – and to create one – within the given context. There are many subtleties to the design: gaps between gables allow views of Berwickshire’s agricultural landscape; there are private gardens to both front (for the upper flats) and back (for the lower) with living rooms facing onto each residence’s respective garden area. Similarly, kitchen windows look along the paths (lower flats) or down the stairs (upper ones). Cars are screened between the gables and are pushed to the rear boundary of the site.
Above left: there are private gardens to the front for the upper flats and to the back for the lower Above: Oliver Chapman Architects won the Best Small Project category in the 2009 Wood Awards for an extension to a house in Edinburgh
But back for a moment to the structure of the three buildings. Yes, each block has a 150x50mm timber frame, heavily insulated with mineral wool and with a drylining system used in conjunction with 220x50mm timber joists to form the separating floors and walls. And as with so many of Scotland’s timber frame homes, the offsite manufacture of the structural frames and roof trusses (150x50mm) was carried out locally, in this instance in Hawick by James Swinton Ltd who were also the main contractors for the project. The project eschews the eco-bling of Code for Sustainable Homes levels 5 and 6, but these requirements are not demanded in Scotland anyway. In this context, however, Robert Browning’s aphorism about great men might just as easily be applied to buildings, viz. “no more great buildings, dear God, just raise the general standard”, for at Todlaw, Oliver Chapman Architects have clearly been confident enough in their own abilities to do just that and to set a marker down for others to emulate. ❚
Award-winning ways Oliver Chapman Architects won the Best Small Project category in the 2009 Wood Awards for their extension to a house in West Mayfield, Edinburgh. They also completed two western red cedar shingle-clad houses at Scotland’s Housing Expo (August 2009).
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WOOD AWARDS WINNER
NEW BEGINNINGS The restoration of Stoke Newington Town Hall won the top prize at the 2010 Wood Awards. Sarah Dade reports on a project that breathed new life into the community
BUILT IN THE 1930S in a combination of English Renaissance and art deco style, Stoke Newington Town Hall is a much-loved building at the heart of a vibrant local community. After years of neglect, the building has been given a new lease of life through a restoration programme that has transformed it into a unique events venue. The painstaking work to return the town hall to its former glory has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the coveted Gold Award in the Wood Awards 2010. The project, which was commissioned by the London Borough of Hackney, also won the Conservation/Restoration category in the Wood Awards. The project team comprised Hawkins\Brown Architects, structural engineers the Building Design Partnership, Killby & Gayford Ltd and conservation specialist Luard Conservation Ltd. The building has a rich and chequered history – the camouflage paintwork on the external walls serves as a reminder of its use as the area’s civil defence headquarters during the second world war. The creation of the new entrance and reception area has incorporated the exposed brickwork of a Tudor mansion that originally stood on the site, so whilst the venue has been brought right up-to-date, it retains the character and history of its past. Hawkins\Brown worked closely with English Heritage, and consulted both the local community and stakeholder groups throughout the planning process. The result is a stunning building which has been carefully restored and refurbished to preserve its original features, whilst creating a 21st century venue through the addition of state-of-the-art audio visual and technical facilities. Work focused on restoring two areas of the building: the council chamber and the assembly hall. Original features, including Australian walnut timber panelling, a dramatic plaster domed ceiling and vaulted galleries, were refurbished, whilst features added later were removed to help restore the town hall to the vision of its original designer J Reginald Truelove. “It was a real privilege for Hawkins\Brown to have the opportunity to contribute to the restoration ❯
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Old and new Australian walnut panelling was carefully matched
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WOOD AWARDS WINNER ❮ of Stoke Newington Town Hall, an historic Grade II listed building,” said John Turner, director of Hawkins\Brown Architects. “Our restoration revives the existing palette of materials, including original brick and hardwood veneers, and complements this with a modern palette of bronze, glass and stainless steel to help marry the old with the new, whilst retaining elements of the original art deco building. “Our challenge was restoring and repairing the building’s original features, and it was really important to us to respect and replicate, where appropriate, the materials used,” continued Turner. “In the council chamber we stripped away the suspended ceiling to reveal the spectacular original domed ceiling, and restored the Australian walnut panelling, carefully matching old with new. “This aspect of the project proved to be particularly challenging and we worked closely with conservation specialists, Luard Conservation, to source veneers to match the originals – not an easy task considering the age of the building.”
The refurbishment included the creation of a new entrance and reception area
Canadian maple floor, which we completely restored to working order to provide facilities for the return of the much-loved tea dances.
ALL PHOTOS: TIM CROCKER
“We went to the Wood Awards ceremony in October not expecting to win, as there were some truly fantastic and inspirational projects in the shortlist, but we were absolutely delighted that the judges recognised the dedication and hard work that went into the restoration. The process of transforming the town hall was arduous, but immensely rewarding for all those involved – it really was a pleasure to bring back to life a ‘sleeping beauty’.”
Amazingly, however, detective work by the team at Luard Conservation led them to track down what they believe to be some of the original veneers, allowing the restoration of the panelling to a level where it is hard to see where old and new meet. It is, said Turner, “a fantastic compliment to the skill and dedication of our craftsmen”. “This attention to detail continued into the assembly hall,” he continued. “It was in dire need of repair, having been all but condemned on safety grounds. Inexplicably full of old three-piece suites, the hall was looking tired and dilapidated, with leaks and stains hiding its underlying beauty. Our biggest job was restoring the sprung
The biggest job in the assembly hall was restoring the sprung Canadian maple floor
Since it reopened last year, the town hall has played host to numerous events, including many weddings and tea dances, placing it once more at the heart of the community. And, of course, there’s that Award. In recognising the restoration of Stoke Newington Town Hall with the prestigious Gold Award, the Wood Awards judges overturned the trend from the past few years where new build projects dominated, demonstrating the exceptional nature of this project. “My fellow judges and I were blown away by the outstanding craftsmanship and sensitive restoration of this historic building,” said specialist conservation judge, Alan Johnson of English Heritage. “The team at Hawkins\Brown recognised the strengths of Truelove’s original design, restoring materials and profiles to their original format and complementing his style with sympathetic interventions, such as the new uplighter illumination in the square-coffer ceiling of the Assembly Hall. In this way, new life has been granted to a formerly overlooked but highly accomplished inter-war civic building.” ❚ Entries for the Wood Awards 2011 will open in March, with the winners being announced at a ceremony at Timber Expo in Coventry on September 27. Full details of all sponsors and further information on the Wood Awards can be found at www.woodawards.com. ●
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