Nestled in the quiet East Sussex woodlands is a building with a difference. The South East England Development Agency-funded Woodland Enterprise Centre is a living, breathing example not only of the possibilities of timber construction, but in the use of locally-sourced wood.
Sweet chestnut from the surrounding forests of the Sussex Weald was used for the floors, the joinery and the cladding, all under a vast lattice-style timber frame roof. As David Saunders, East Sussex County Council’s woodland officer and Weald Woodnet organiser, said: “The key was to create a big building using small trees. The centre showcases what can be done with new building techniques.”
This showcase structure also formed the backdrop for Woodnet’s recent ‘Question Time’ event in which such techniques were put under the microscope by an eager audience. The event brought together timber growers, suppliers, architects, engineers, academics, builders and joinery companies to discuss the future of timber construction, particularly in relation to using locally-sourced material.
It is this ‘local connection’ that underpins much of Woodnet’s work, through its recently formed TimberBuild Network. Its aim is to promote local timber to the construction industry, generating market demand for previously overlooked products. “Woodnet is designed to bring growers of wood in touch with users of wood and develop a dialogue,” explained Saunders.
Steve Johnson, from the Architect Ensemble, another driver of the TimberBuild Network, said: “We’re trying to get people to think about using local timber. Our initial research showed that growers saw no market in construction grade timber simply because – outside a few projects – no-one’s been using it. But, for certain projects, using local timber is ideal.”
He believes there has already been a sea change in the use of timber in construction projects, evidenced by the work created for companies like InWood Developments Ltd. “Because of that, the company is investing in technology that’s never been seen before in the UK which enables the construction of different types of buildings,” he explained. “It’s changing the nature of the whole business.”
The Question Time event was chaired by Robin Nicholson of Edward Cullinan Architects, supported by a panel of experts comprising timber engineers, architects, builders and researchers.
Guests were there for a variety of reasons. Local carpenter Frank Widdowson said he was intrigued that so much local woodland lay dormant. “Woodnet’s aim to find uses for local wood seems an excellent idea,” he said. “And anything that brings together people who can design and innovate in timber should be supported.”
Kent County Council member and local school governor Bill Martin was on a fact-finding mission to discover whether timber construction would suit a new primary school. “We’re wholly open to the use of the material,”
he said, “and there’s no doubt that sustainability is a
good thing.”
Cost was a central topic of discussion. Dr Andy Pittman, principal lecturer at the forest products research centre at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, contended that environmental considerations are still a not prime concern for consumers. He said many would prefer to buy a table in locally-produced Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified timber to one made from uncertified tropical timber, but their choice would ultimately be based on price.
“The same is true for timber in construction,” he said. “While architects might like to specify it for a job, many housing projects are about cost-effectiveness and there often isn’t the funding to specify timber.”
But, argued Steve Johnson, “if you’re growing timber in the UK, it’s easier to certify it as sustainable and track it, and that’s a big advantage of using home-grown timber. It’s a big selling point for architects”.
He acknowledged though that, for many small businesses, environmental certification can be prohibitively expensive. “That’s why we’re looking into ways with the FSC of producing a group certification scheme, almost like a co-operative.”
One of the other big questions focused on why timber was not as popular a building material as it is in Scandinavian and North American countries. Mr Johnson put this down to a series of factors, not least the problems associated with the use of low grade, non-durable timber in the UK in the 1970s, which he said “almost destroyed the industry”.
“Timber construction is picking up at a rapid pace. But if we make a mistake now, it could be catastrophic. It’s about convincing people that timber is a good material not just for construction, but for exterior uses like cladding,” he said.
His views were echoed by John Russell, from Timberstructures Carpentry. He said there was a perception among joinery companies that architects were either not generally equipped to make buildings out of timber, or to “sell” it to clients. “There is a misconception among UK consumers that timber is extremely costly, but much of this is based around ignorance. The simple fact is that architects have been negligent in their use of timber in construction.”
Other hot topics of conversation were the use of laminated and finger-jointed timber in construction, not surprisingly as much of the sweet chestnut used in the Woodland Enterprise Centre was constructed using finger-jointed timber.
There was a feeling among some of the architects in attendance that, without publicly available strength and structural tests for the jointed material, it would be overlooked in favour of other more conventional building materials.
Panel member Edward Stenhouse of Inwood Developments, which supplied the laminated timber for the Centre, admitted it would be in the industry’s commercial interest to make this data available but that “the costs were exceptionally high”.
“Clients can pay to have the product tested, but to do generic testing for the public domain is a very big step,” said Stenhouse. “All of us in the timber building industry think it should be done, but it’s about pulling together to bring about the necessary funding.”
But, while there may be issues to overcome, the consensus at the Woodnet event was that, with so many people championing the cause of locally-produced timber, it won’t be long before structures like the Woodland Enterprise Centre are a common sight.
