Waugh Thistleton Architects’ new Black and White building, constructed of mass timber, is a rarity in the UK as regulators and insurers treat the building material with caution.
Photo illustration: Stephanie Davidson; Photo: Jake Curtis/Courtesy of The Office Group
Fire Fears After Grenfell Disaster Set Back Wood Building in UK
Timber construction has come to a near-halt in the shadow of a deadly 2017 conflagration, even though the material played no role in it.
This article is part of the Bloomberg Green series Timber Town, which looks at the global rise of timber as a low-carbon building material.
To get fire department approval for their six-story London office project made of strong engineered wood known as mass timber, Theo Michell and Richard Walker had to build a full-scale section of it in the UK, ship it to Poland and attempt to set it on fire.