Timber for landscape architecture

Timber for landscape architecture

Date Published

12 August 2022

Document Type

Category

Audience

Author

TRADA
Summary

Timber has always featured widely in landscape design, due both to its physical properties and to its attractive appearance, which harmonise naturally with the landscape.

This Wood Information Sheet (WIS) gives guidance to designers and specifiers of landscape architecture by providing a working knowledge of the factors which must be considered when using timber outdoors.

Key Information

Timber products are frequently for urban environments, such as parks, gardens and pedestrian precints, as well as for countryside locations.

Hardwoods offer extended durability, better resistance to wear and tear, and higher strength.

Increasing the frequency of fixings will reduce wood’s tendency to warp.

Case studies

Poised above a man-made lake in Hampshire, the Fishing Hut is a small but beautifully crafted timber building; it has an elegant simplicity achieved by the integration of design, structure and sustainability.

The new Performing Arts Centre for Sevenoaks School sits on a beautiful sloping site overlooking Knole Park. It contains a concert hall large enough for a symphony orchestra, choir and an audience of 450, a recital room for 100, and a music school with 23 teaching spaces of various sizes, plus a new drama studio, with drama teaching and technical spaces.