New CLT multi-storey apartment building under way in London

The Stadthaus in London could soon have a challenger to its title of tallest residential timber structure from another building in the capital.

Delivery of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels has started on the site of an eight-storey residential project in Hackney, where the Stadthaus is also located. The structure, being constructed entirely from CLT, replaces a 1950s block of flats as part of the regeneration of the Colville Estate.

Bridport House is billed as the first time CLT has been used in the UK for the entire structure, including ground floor, of a high-rise building. Previous CLT high-rise applications like the nine-storey Stadthaus project in Hackney have featured a concrete ground floor.

This could lead to Bridport House challenging Stadthaus’s reputation as the tallest residential timber structure in the world.

The 41-apartment building, commissioned by the London Borough of Hackney, will use CLT panels made from PEFC-certified spruce at Stora Enso’s Austrian factory.

CLT was specified as the main structural material to meet sustainability objectives – the carbon sink properties of timber will offset carbon emissions resulting from the construction process.

It was also chosen because a storm relief sewer runs under the site, making it unsuitable for a heavy traditional concrete frame structure.

CLT panels are being placed in a variety of positions on each floor, thus spreading the load and making it possible to double the size of the building compared to the original structure (with only a 10% increase in overall weight).