Providing 63,250 square feet of office space, Paradise is a new six-storey timber hybrid commercial building in Lambeth designed by architecture studio Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios for client Bywater. Sitting in a highly visible location, overlooked by a major commuter trainline into Waterloo Station, the project has always had big ambitions: to raise the profile of timber construction in the UK and to draw energy and investment into the local area.
The project began in 2018 with the aim to create a zero-carbon, healthy building with a focus on placemaking and community engagement. Its site – located just south of the River Thames, between residential areas, the Met Office and the railway line – was not an obvious prime spot for commercial development. “We needed to make Paradise a really exciting proposition in order to get people here,” explains Joe Jack Williams (who helped design the project as part of the FCBS architectural team, before joining the client Bywater as head of sustainability in 2024).
Although the early ambition was for a tall building, alterations were made to respect the height of neighbouring buildings and viewing corridors. After working with Lambeth Council, FCBS reduced the height to 6 storeys. “The value proposition of the site in the area was quite tough – so we really needed to make the most of the space to maximise the value of the building,” recalls Joe Jack. As such, the completed building makes impressive use of around 97% of the red line of the site.
The ‘full timber’ second floor provides a flexible, light-filled workspace; photos © Andy Stagg
Structure, layout and materials
“Paradise is a true hybrid structure,” Joe Jack emphasises, “combining timber, steel and concrete.” It comprises foundations, a small basement (which houses sprinkler tanks and backof- house) and two adjoining cores made of concrete. The first and second floors are fully timber, with CLT slabs and glulam columns and beams, while the upper floors introduce steel beams that run around the perimeter.
Despite its hybrid nature, the experience of being inside the building is defined by the majestic, exposed timber elements, whose natural finish provides each generous space with calm visual interest and contributes to the creation of a healthy workplace. The second floor is the real centrepiece of the building, with full glazing showcasing its striking arrangement of diagonal glulam bracing beams to the overlooking train line and providing incredible light and views out over the city for building occupants.
“The aim was to create a zero-carbon, healthy building, with a focus on placemaking and community engagement.”
Joe Jack Williams, Head of Sustainability, Bywater Properties
The façade is another key part of the visual identity of the building, featuring ceramic tiles that nod to the architectural history of the area as well as providing top-tier durability – especially important because of exposure to the toxic brake dust produced by the trains. “The façade was also the most obvious opportunity to integrate with the community,” Joe Jack adds. The façade designer, Matt + Fiona, worked closely with local school children to co-create the tile design. The children were taken on a walk through the surrounding neighbourhood, where they used clay to take impressions of patterns, textures and details found in the local environment. These impressions were then collaged to collectively develop the final tile design, creating a façade rooted in the character and stories of the area.
Connection details and demountability
Fixing the array of structural materials together required numerous different connection details. “With steel-steel, steelconcrete, steel-timber, timbertimber there was a full suite of materials to attach together at certain points,” recalls Alex Brock, senior pre-construction manager at B&K Structures – who were contracted to design and deliver the structural timber elements along with the connections.
The connection design – which was developed together with BKS’ structural design partner Engenuiti – is a key accomplishment of Paradise, pushing technical boundaries by maximising the ability to reuse structural elements at the end of the building’s life.
By using a set of nonhidden dowelled and bolted connections, designed specifically for future disassembly, the building can be taken apart the same way it was put together. The steel connectors, which were fabricated in-house by BKS, are fully encased by timber, with bolts covered with removable timber plugs, to give them fire protection by preventing heat transfer through the steel into the centre of the beams.
Another factor that enables the future reuse of timber elements is the use of an easily removable mineral wool screed fire board on top of the CLT slabs in place of the usual concrete screed layer, which damages the timber. “It was important for the building to be intelligible and visible,” says Joe Jack. “Now I don’t have to worry whether someone, in 60 years’ time, will have the correct version of Autodesk or Revit to be able to open the drawings in order to understand how this building was put together.”
Coordination between teams
The original structural design was developed by Webb Yates – who worked closely with FCBS the whole way through the project. At early Stage 3, FCBS engaged B&K Structures as the specialist timber structure contractors. BKS decided to bring on additional specialist timber engineering support, enlisting Engenuiti, with whom they worked to bring the design through to buildability. “There was a tight coordination between Webb Yates and FCBS – who were really safeguarding the whole building – and between BKS and Engenuiti, who were safeguarding the timber structure specifically,” Joe Jack explained.
3D views of the building structure. Drawing by structral engineer Webb Yates.
The scope of BKS’ package included the glulam columns and beams, CLT slabs, supporting steelwork, flame treatments and coatings, with the mass timber elements manufactured by their supply chain partners: Hasslacher (for the glulam) and Stora Enso (CLT).
Fire testing and safety
Paradise has set a major new precedent in the UK for fire safety and design. The project involved extensive, full-scale load-bearing fire testing (costing £300,000) to demonstrate the safety of the mass timber junctions and ensure compliance with regulations. These tests were undertaken at Stage 3 in the design process and mean that Bywater and OFR – the project fire engineer – now have a set of proven junctions, and the fire certificates that go with them, suitable for use in new mass timber office buildings. “There is the appetite to reuse them, and it was part of the value,” Joe Jack notes, “but I am not sure when, as we intend to prioritise the reuse of buildings where possible.”
One challenge in demonstrating fire safety to building control was their concern about façade combustibility. The decision to use steel columns and beams around the perimeter of the upper floors was made to address these concerns. Although a slight compromise to the timber ambitions of the project, Joe Jack explained that this was an effective strategy to reassure building control and make the wider scheme easier to approve.
Rigorous fire protection measures include charring calculations, autoextinction validation, intumescent coating on glulam columns and beams, fire protection boards on CLT slabs, protective coatings on connections, and sprinklers throughout the building. There are also two means of escape with both a main staircase and a second back staircase.
In-construction image © Agnese Sanvito: the structural frame was efficiently built in a carefully phased programme.
Construction challenges
The use of a timber structure reduced the need for extensive groundworks, making the construction process more manageable than it otherwise would have been, and meant less time was spent in the ground. However, the main construction problem was the need to store materials for above ground on such a tight site.
To address this, the building was constructed in three phases: the west wing, the east wing and then the north wing. Two floors would be built up, with the glulam columns and beams going one way and then the CLT floor slabs going the other. This allowed each new upper floor to be used as a protective crash deck, and resulted in an efficient construction process – with the structure installed onsite in just 22 weeks. This was followed by a further 22-week onsite intumescent coating period.
Overall, the project used 275 m3 of CLT and 260 m3 of glulam – sequestering 1775 tonnes of carbon. “And all of the timber in this building has regrown in the forests in just 8 minutes and 31 seconds,” reports Alex. “This incredible statistic always blows people’s minds.” With moisture management always one of the most critical aspects of the delivery of large timber structures, BKS devised robust strategies to ensure protection of the timber from water damage. The timber was treated offsite with end grain sealant and delivered to site in justin- time deliveries. They then worked closely with main contractor Gilbert Ash who implemented all advice “to the letter” – preventing ingress during installation with high quality joint sealing.
The impact of Paradise
The patterned ceramic tiles – co-designed with local school children – create a strong visual identity and embed the project in the community.
Paradise is one of the most environmentally ambitious office buildings in the UK, achieving 413 kgCO₂e/m² embodied carbon – making it 35% lower than RIBA’s 2030 target and 59% better than the GLA 2020 benchmark.
According to Joe Jack, the success of this project has formalised developer Bywater’s focus on sustainable materials and particularly timber construction. Founded by Richard Walker OBE, Bywater has been interested in biomaterials from the start. But it was through Paradise that they realised to what extent timber is the right material to build with. “It is better for the neighbours, it requires less workers on site, it has quicker programs, it is sustainable, and it allowed us to attract a different sort of investor,” says Joe Jack. Paradise also initiated Bywater’s relationship with Sumitomo Forestry, who came into the business first as an investor and then as a joint venture partner.
“Paradise proved that low-carbon design could be delivered at scale, and it became the catalyst for bringing Sumitomo Forestry into our business as a joint venture partner,” says Patrick O’Gorman, CEO of Bywater. “That partnership has transformed what we’re able to do. Together, we now have seven new projects in the pipeline, all focused on reducing embodied and operational carbon, with an ambition to deliver seven a year. Paradise was the spark, and it’s shaped the future direction of Bywater.”
Timber is now consistent throughout all of Bywater’s projects. And they are now expanding to residential developments, with their first timber residential building through planning – a CLT and glulam structure providing student housing in Bermondsey, London – and another two following close behind.
This article featured in Issue 11 of Designing Timber – the full magazine can be read here.
