Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London

Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Project information Introduction

Completion date: 2009 There is nothing in the building regulations The unusual feature is the cross-laminated
that prohibits high-rise timber buildings, timber (CLT) panels used as load-bearing
Building type: Multi-storey
although the practical limit (and current walls and floor ‘slabs’. There are no beams
apartment block
code limitation) for stud wall timber frame is or columns anywhere and the structure is
Location: Hackney, London seven storeys. The Stadthaus (German for amenable to openings being created in
Client Telford Homes PLC townhouse) is – with eight floors of timber walls with relative ease. The architects and
and Metropolitan structure – the tallest habitable timber building engineers had prior experience of CLT,
Housing Trust in the world. And architects and structural gained through a variety of low rise housing,
engineers are already working on timber commercial, educational and industrial
Architect: Waugh Thistleton buildings that will be considerably taller. projects. Their interest in using CLT arose from
Architects an ‘environmental’ position and a desire to
The building is insulated and airtight beyond make timber more readily accepted in the UK,
Structural Engineer Techniker
UK requirements. Mechanical ventilation of all especially for tall structures that have hitherto
Main Contractor: Telford Homes rooms includes a heat recovery system that been feasible only with inorganic building
Timber supplier KLH UK retains 70% of the heat that would normally be materials such as concrete, masonry
and erector: lost when return air is expelled. Photovoltaic and steel.
(PV) panels on the roof generate a modest
Timber elements: Solid wood panels for supply of renewable energy.
floors, roof, internal
and external walls, lift With sustainability high on the agenda, the
and stair cores design meets the Lifetime Homes standard
and includes a green-wall wrapping on
Timber species: Spruce
the southern elevation of the building to
Awards Wood Awards 2008 encourage local biodiversity. A variety of new
shrubs and trees will create an ecologically
Timber in Construction sustainable ‘pocket’ park.
Awards 2008
The development includes a landscaped
Timber Journal Awards
playground for children on the south side,
2008
which parents can overlook from half the
apartments.

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 1

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Site Plan

OV E
MU RR AY GR

PR OV OS T ST
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Building description Cross-laminated timber panels
The Stadthaus, comprising 29 apartments by the surrounding buildings and trees. Then Although commonly used in Continental
(in 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom designs), is they modelled the pattern through a sun-path Europe, cross-laminated timber is a relatively
effectively divided into two sections that animation and, finally, wrapped the pixilated new product in the UK. CLT is the main form of
are independently owned, accessed and and blurred image around the building. The solid wood panels (not all solid wood panels
serviced. The floor plans show how this is balconies and windows punctuate the rhythm are cross-laminated).
achieved. The local residents association has of the abstract image.
an office at ground level and the Metropolitan Cross-laminated timber is produced from
Housing Trust has apartments on levels Being a residential construction, the building industrially dried spruce boards which are
1, 2 and 3. Levels 4-8 are privately owned. satisfies building insurers and comes with stacked at right angles and glued together
Level 4 marks a change in floor layouts and an NHBC certificate of insurance of the over their layer surfaces in 3, 5, 7 or more
external elevations. construction itself. board layers. The panels are used as
large wall, floor and roof elements, and are
The building was assembled using a unique manufactured with precision cut-outs for
structural system pioneered by KLH in Austria, doors, windows and building services.
using timber strips glued together (using
formaldehyde-free adhesive) in perpendicular KLH manufactures three grades: non-visual
layers to form the panels. The bonus with quality, industrial visual quality and domestic
CLT is its tremendous contribution to making quality for living spaces. In the UK, KLH
construction sustainable. It lowers the energy offers panels up to 14m long and 2.95m wide
used in construction, reduces heat loss (limited by transport restrictions).
during occupation by improving insulation The solid wood panels make a substantial
and airtightness, and it is also very easy to contribution towards lowering the building’s
demolish and recycle at end of life. carbon footprint. The designers calculated
There were minimal wet trades in bathrooms that had the building been of conventional
and kitchens, and therefore little need to dry reinforced concrete construction, it would
out the building. Windows and doors were have incurred an additional 124 tonnes of
fitted early to weatherproof the building. carbon generated during construction. Adding
this to the 188 tonnes of carbon sequestered
Even the façade, inspired by the work of (locked away) in the 900m³ of timber in the
artists Gerhard Richter and Marcus Harvey, structure results in a total offset of some 310
employs wood. Eternit manufactured the 5,000 tonnes of carbon. This gain, combined with
panels (each 1200mm x 230mm ) made up of the building being better insulated and more
70% waste timber. The architects designed airtight than the Building Regulations demand,
the façade by firstly recording the changing convinced the local planning authority to
light and shadows formed on the vacant site
[Continued page 3]

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 2

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Cross-laminated Third floor plan (apartments for tenants of Metropolitan Housing Trust)
timber panels (cont.)
grant a dispensation from the ‘Merton’ rule
that normally requires at least 10% of the
energy used during occupation to be
generated onsite. Thus, the designers
avoided having an in-house combined heat
and power plant or ground source heat pump
(which would have occupied part of the
basement) and left most of the roof space
as an amenity. However, the development
does include modest PV generation to power
lights in common areas and the water booster
pump, saving expenses that would otherwise
be met by charges on occupants.

The CLT structure comfortably achieved

the required fire resistance. The structural
engineer allowed for charring to achieve
60-minutes fire resistance and achieved
90-minutes fire resistance by adding
plasterboard.

The 128mm wall met the thermal

resistance of U = 0.13 W/m²/K with just
100mm of insulation.

Lift and stairs for levels 1-3

terminate at 4th floor

Fifth floor plan (apartments for private owners)

Lift and stairs for levels 4-8 run full height

but don’t have access to levels 1-3

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 3

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Structure Isometric View

The tower is a cellular structure with
apartments in a honeycomb pattern around
a central core. The load-bearing elements
(lift shafts, stairwells, all external and some
internal walls) provide exceptional resistance
to progressive collapse and good acoustic
separation between apartments and lift shaft.

Although timber would be feasible for the

ground floor walls, the structural engineers
opted for reinforced concrete. They felt it
would better accommodate the dramatic
difference in layout between ground and first
floor, and that it would be easier to ensure
good damp proofing with a concrete
sub-structure. Concrete provides a level
threshold for the timber, at either ground or
first floor level.

Each of the panels was prefabricated,

including cut-outs for windows and doors.
As the panels arrived on site, they were
immediately craned into position, dramatically
reducing time on site. The eight-storey timber
structure was assembled in eight weeks.
The entire nine-storey structure was up in
nine weeks. The contractor used a ‘platform
construction’ configuration, which means they
set each floor on the walls below, and then
another storey of walls was raised and so
on up the building. Screws and angle plates
secured the joints. Stresses are generally
very low throughout the structure although, at
points where cross-grain pressures are high,
screws were added to reinforce the timber
locally. Progressive collapse is avoided by
providing sufficient redundancy so that any
single elements can be removed.

The untreated timber relies on the building

envelope for protection from damp and
rot. While installation in wet weather was
inconvenient, it had no effect on the panels
because the system releases moisture readily
as it dries.

Maintaining a high acoustic performance

for the Stadthaus was an important design
consideration. Acoustically, timber buildings
have traditionally been classified as ‘poor’
when compared with reinforced concrete and
masonry. But CLT panels have a significantly
higher density than timber frame buildings.
They provide a solid structural core on which
different, independent and separating layers
can be added. The layer principle overcomes
any sound transfer issues. With a consistent
and economic layering strategy of walls Detail C
with joints in front of the party walls, floating Detail A
floor build-ups and suspended ceilings, the
designers achieved sound reduction and Detail B
thermal performance that exceed
UK requirements.

[Continued page 5]

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 4

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Structure (cont.)
Although more expensive than an equivalent
reinforced concrete frame, CLT brought
significant overall savings by making a radical
cut in the building programme. For example,
an equivalent concrete building was estimated
to take 72 weeks, whereas the CLT solution
required only 49 weeks. The erectors brought
a large mobile crane, which eliminated the
need for a tower crane that would normally be
needed for a concrete structure. Scaffolding
was needed to fix the cladding, but not to
erect the wood structure. The CLT structure
represented three days’ production at KLH’s
factory. And the rapid installation played an
important role here. The four-man Austrian
crew was on site three days a week and
accomplished the entire superstructure
erection in 27 working days, over nine weeks.

The contractor was delighted with the Wall panel anchored to floor panel. Typical internal wall arrangement.
+/- 5mm tolerance achieved with the timber
construction, compared with the 10mm
normally expected in concrete structures.
The consequence of tight tolerances is the
ease of fitting the structure together, its good
airtightness and the ease of fixing cladding.

Floor-to floor movement due to moisture

and creep is estimated to be 3mm, which
gaps in finishes can tolerate. Also, by
avoiding concrete cores, there is not the
differential movement to resolve between
concrete and timber that occurs with
conventional timber frame.

Early indications are that the solid timber is

making a significant contribution to thermal
mass, as indicated by modest fluctuations
in temperature.

Installation of building services has proven

easier than expected and future projects
Floor panel installation. Floor panel installation.
might expect better prices as this experience
is taken into account. Cables and pipes were
generally surface mounted with simple screw-
fixed straps. The plasterboard was installed
on metal tophat sections. In contrast, Austrian
practice takes advantage of the factory’s
ability to cut chases for service runs. Hence,
they would normally fix the plasterboard
directly to the CLT panels.

Another encouraging conclusion is that CLT

is evidently well suited to infill construction.
This is because, when compared to other
materials, the CLT site is less disruptive
to neighbours on account of the rapid
construction and quieter building activities
using lightweight power tools. These tools
pose a lower hazard to operatives’ health than
the heavier equipment needed to drill into
concrete, masonry and steel structures.

Self-drill woodscrews installed Easy fixing of services to ceiling.

using lightweight power drivers.

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 5

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

Detail A: Detail B:
Section at external wall Section at lift shaft

Key

1. 15mm timber 8. 128mm KLH

2. 55mm screed 9. 146mm KLH

3. 100mm insulation 10. 75mm Void

4. 25mm insulation 11. 1 layer of plasterboard

5. 40mm insulation 12. 2 layers of plasterboard 7

5
6. 50mm insulation 13. Eternit cladding
8
7. 117mm KLH 6
12

1
2
4

10
6
11
8
3
13

Drawings not to scale

5000 Eternit panels, comprising 70% wood waste clad the building. Detail C ‘Section of Window Opening’.

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 6

Stadthaus, 24 Murray Grove, London
Eight storeys of apartments featuring cross-laminated timber panels

TRADA Technology
Stocking Lane
Hughenden Valley
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP14 4ND (UK)

t: +44 (0)1494 569600

f: +44 (0)1494 565487
e: [email protected]
w: www.trada.co.uk
© TRADA Technology Ltd 2009
Credits: Construction drawings and photos - Waugh Thistleton Architects
Page 1, Page 5 (Easy fixing of services to ceiling), Page 6 (5000 Eternit panels) - Will Pryce
Page 4 (isometric) and Page 6 (Detail C) – Techniker Consulting Structural Engineers

Case Study | Stadthaus, Murray Grove, London 7