TOG has come together with dedicated timber specialists Waugh Thistleton Architects to explore a new approach to workplace design. In The Black & White Building in London, they have explored an ‘architecture of sufficiency’– where every element serves a purpose, nothing is superfluous, and all materials and processes are as efficient and sustainable as possible. Source: Timberbiz
Their new seven- floor mass-timber building in the heart of Shoreditch sets out to demonstrate that timber is not just a viable alternative to the conventional concrete and steel used to build offices, when it comes to performance and sustainability, it is the preferable option.
Standing 17.8 metres above the Shoreditch streetscape on, appropriately enough, the site of a former timber seasoning shed.
The building is situated a stroll from the tech hub of Old Street and Silicon Roundabout, on Rivington Street in Shoreditch – one of London’s very first ultra-low emission thoroughfares. The previous building on the site – a 11,000 sq ft structure painted black and white – was incapable of meeting the area’s growing workspace demand but also unviable for extension.
TOG and Waugh Thistleton set out to create a building that minimised carbon in both its construction and, once complete, its operations. The architects proposed a structure built from the ground up using cross-laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL). These high-performance engineered wooden materials generate much less greenhouse gas emissions in the production than steel or cement, saving thousands of tonnes in CO2, while also being highly durable.
As well as generating much less waste than more common building materials such as iron, steel and cement, CLT and LVL also have the advantage of being totally replenishable. The CLT frame was chosen for its perfect balance of sustainability, lightness and strength. Glulam (made from glue-laminated layers of timber) is used for the curtain walling, and the columns and beams are made out of beech LVL.
The structure comprises a combination of timbers from 227 beech and 1,547 pine and spruce trees harvested from certified forests in Austria and Germany. For a sustainable forest to regenerate the quantity of wood used in the construction of The Black & White Building would take approximately 137 minutes – meaning that it’s possible to grow enough timber to construct a six-storey, seven-floor building in less time than it takes to bake a loaf of bread.
CLT is significantly lighter and easier to transport than conventional building materials such as concrete and steel, which means that fewer deliveries are required to bring the necessary quantities to the construction site. This not only represents a carbon-reduction in terms of logistics, it also makes building in dense urban areas a more efficient process that is less disruptive for neighbours and other road users.
Because the timber components are prefabricated, and precision-engineered to be slotted together, the ‘screwed not glued’ building not only requires a smaller workforce to construct, it also has a part to play in the circular economy. At the end of its life, the building can be easily disassembled rather than demolished, and the materials can be recovered and reused.
Overall, The Black & White Building creates 37% less embodied carbon than a comparable concrete structure, and serves as a long-term carbon store for 1,014.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (55% of the building’s total) sequestered in the timber structure.
The team expects to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating once the building is complete.
The Black & White Building is powered by 100% renewable energy sources – including 80 solar panels on the rooftop. No element of The Black & White Building is purely decorative; everything has a purpose. Notably, the exterior is clad in timber louvres that run from street level to the roof. These provide natural shade, reducing solar gain on the façade and boosting the natural light reaching the interior. The louvres change in depth as they ascend the building in order to optimise energy efficiency.
The use of louvres also minimises the amount of solar coating needed to protect the clear glass windows.
The louvres are crafted from thermally modified tulipwood, recommended and supplied by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC). This timber is highly affordable, lightweight, readily replenished, and has minimal environmental impact.
To maximise natural light in the building throughout the day, a lightwell runs the full height of the building from the rooftop terrace down to a courtyard containing a maple tree on the lower ground floor.
