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NEWS
shortages of brickies is making brick and block less easy to pursue as a default.
Finding a different path One of the key insights expressed several times on the trip was that mindsets need to change within the industry on the usability of C16 softwood timber, particularly given that the UK produces a large amount of it. According to several delegates and hosts on the sites visited, many applications where more expensive, denser C24 is required would be adequately served by C16, and this could be essential to support the growth of UK supply called for in the 2023 Timber in Construction Road Map which the Government has taken forward. John Kirby of PEFC explained: “A lot of housebuilders will use imported C24 structural timber, possibly from Scandinavia, but we’re trying to maximise the use of C16.” He said that the ‘strength class’ requirement dictating the use of C24 wasn’t always needed: “The classes are applied in bending, so in a joist situation, and in studwork there’s very little difference in capacity of a C16 and C24, and the difference in span is only about 11%.”
TALL BUILDINGS
Council on Tall Buildings rebrands, moving focus from skyscrapers to ‘vertical urbanism’
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has rebranded as the Council for Vertical Urbanism (CVU) to refl ect a global refocus on “vertical ecosystems” away from tall buildings as a goal in themselves.
The Council commented on the organisation’s “evolving” identity: “The world has changed, cities face new pressures, from the effect of climate change to housing affordability, and tall buildings alone can’t solve them.” The CVU said this move “recognises and validates that vertical urbanism has emerged as a legitimate philosophy, discipline and global movement, shaping the way cities around the world confront the challenges of the 21st century.” CEO Javier Quintana de Una commented: “We are widening the lens; vertical urbanism isn’t just about
height; it’s about designing upward in smarter, more integrated ways to deliver sustainable, connected and human- centred cities.” Scott Duncan, board member at the CVU and design partner at SOM said: “We are witnessing as an urban population a transformation from height as the goal, to quality and nuance.” The CVU explained vertical urbanism
as “a new way to imagine a city, as a system; connected, liveable, and resilient.” Duncan added that new urban architecture was set to respond more strongly and sensitively to existing fabric: “We are entering a period where we have very mature cities with a rich variety of buildings, and now the next set of additions to that ecosystem are going to be much more intelligent and symbiotic in the way they relate to other buildings. ”
The SME builders on the trip said their viewpoints and assumptions had already shifted away from adherence brick and block, and the visits merely confi rmed their newfound confi dence in pursuing timber frame for home developments. Tom Smith of Avant Homes said that things were already changing in England, driven by the high delivery targets; however caveatted that Build to Rent (BTR) or social housing more widely might be more viable than private sale for many developers, with less focus on absorption rates, and giving “guaranteed revenue.” With a declining housing market, there was even a disincentive for the speed of build timber offers, he said.
He added that a scenario where the majority of a site being timber frame BTR properties (“lower profi t margin, but quicker return”), could see a trickle effect to timber in private sale units on the same site. Jim Simpson of Strata Homes was an example of a fi rm embodying the change towards timber frame, from long being faithful adherents of brick and block. “Throughout my career, I’ve considered brick and block construction to be the
only real option for building homes,” he told me. “During the management of a recent project my perspective has shifted; I’ve come to see timber frame as not just a realistic alternative, but often a smarter, more effi cient way to build.” The PEFC’s John Kirby summed up the
trip’s importance for changing views on the possibilities of building in timber to meet carbon targets: “It’s been a positive couple of days, and changed some minds.”
© ATCHAIN
Quintana de Una commented that a focus on community engagement in design was key to vertical urbanism: “The success of buildings now has to do with how the community enjoys them, how they connect to infrastructure, and the experience of the user, and there’s a new group of people who have a say in the design of these buildings.”
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