Designing Timber

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Exterior timber performance: durability, coating and long-term protection
by TDUK|03 August 26|Design
Timber continues to grow in popularity across exterior applications including cladding, decking, fencing and landscaping structures. Demand remains steady across both residential and commercial sectors, driven by timber’s natural good looks, sustainability credentials and versatility in design. However, long-term performance outdoors depends on more than aesthetics alone. Whether specifying timber...
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The Thornton Building: timber in its DNA
by Matt Milton|02 August 26|Design
A three-storey, mass-timber office building, the Thornton Building provides workspace for over 200 staff of EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute. Completed in summer 2024, the building is an essential part of the masterplan for the Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton Hall near Cambridge.  Thornton Building exterior; © Peter Landers Its flexible...
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Timber transforms an end-of-terrace: Blythe Hill House
by Bryony Bodimeade|17 July 26|Design
The familiar form and look of a 1970s terraced house has been tastefully updated and upgraded, using timber and other biomaterials. When it came to the extension and renovation of his southeast London home, George Reed of TDUK members Price & Myers was in a uniquely well-informed position… We knew...
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Gwynfaen: homegrown housing at scale
by Bryony Bodimeade|17 July 26|Design
Gwynfaen is a Welsh word meaning “white” or “fair” stone. It’s also the name of a highly ambitious and sustainable housing development providing 144 new timber homes – constructed using locally grown Welsh timber. The award-winning project is informed by the impressive, thoughtful placemaking of architects Stride Treglown, who were...
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Paradise: a timber trailblazer
by Bryony Bodimeade|17 July 26|Design
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...
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A beginner’s guide to metal web joists
by Matt Milton|08 July 26|Design
High performing, cost-effective floors can be easily achieved by using correctly designed and installed metal web joists. But what is a metal web joist? This article provides all the information you need to understand the form and function of these extremely useful timber products. They consist of two parallel chords,...
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Designing Timber | Issue 11
by Matt Milton|30 June 26|Build, Design
Issue 11 of Designing Timber, a magazine from Timber Development UK (TDUK) dedicated to architects, designers and anyone working with timber.
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U-Build: thinking outside the box
by Matt Milton|05 December 25|Design
Ben Baker, Production Manager at U-Build, explains this nifty demountable timber system and the range of uses it lends itself to. A simple DIY construction system, U-Build lends itself to all manner or projects, from domestic garden studios to large-scale office fit-outs, from household storage to entire houses. "Over lockdown...
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A timber frame home in Somerset, clad in Brimstone ash
by Matt Milton|05 December 25|Design
Nestled in the North Somerset countryside sits a new timber-frame four-bedroom family home. DHV Architects have created an impressive, highly energy-efficient home with an A-rated EPC, clad with highly durable Brimstone cladding. Previously occupied by a dilapidated chalet bungalow, the site is on a hillside with expansive views over the...
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Talking homegrown timber: how to use UK wood, with English Woodlands Timber
by Matt Milton|05 December 25|Design
“When it comes to homegrown timber, it’s really important to talk about the fundamentals – so that designers understand what is generally possible, and how they can design with it,” says Tom Compton,  Managing Director of English Woodlands Timber. “With structural timber, strength is the concern. For exterior use, durability...
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