Materials report
The latest thing to capture the imagination of architects isn’t quite as familiar as it may first appear – this rendition of engineered wood is wood but not as you know it
You may not be surprised by the latest material sweeping through contemporary homes, because it’s strikingly similar to one used in many of our oldest homes: wood.
Not just any wood, of course. Over the past several decades, an enhanced breed called mass timber – a broad term for engineered wood – has risen as the latest ‘it’ material for boldfaced sustainable architecture, ranging from office buildings to residential towers.
What makes mass timber unique? ‘These products are all composed of different ways of bonding singular strips of wood together to create greater strength and resiliency than any natural log could ever achieve,’ says Aaron Schiller, founder of New York’s Schiller Projects, who recently completed a timber home across the pond. Fabricated into customsized panels and beams, timber is glued, nailed, or even dowelled together (the most popular variety is called CLT, short for cross-laminated timber). The resulting product is strong competition for conventional structural materials – with less environmental impact to boot.
Without question, sustainability is the overarching appeal. Mass timber is renewable, and importantly, produces less impact than concrete and steel during production. It also naturally sequesters and offsets carbon, and enables more energy-efficient homes thanks to thermal insulationqualities.And,sincemasstimber homes are often prefabricated, it reduces waste and lengthy construction schedules.
W here can you see it in action? Mass timber’s green street credit has made the material a crowd-pleaser for new builds, and there’s an ongoing race for timber skyscrapers achieving the ‘tallest’ superlative (like Waug h Thistleton A rchitects’ new Black &White Building in Shoreditch, the tallest mass timber office tower in London).
The material is becoming a more viable option for homeow ners, too —now that architects are more familiar with the detailing and construction process, mass timber is drifting into more modest architecture. In other words? All-timber, single-family homes are within reach.
‘This k nowledge has provided valuable k now-how and confidence in the mater
