An innovative low mass and energy efficient timber frame building has been constructed as the new headquarters of the National Energy Foundation.
The single-storey building, at the National Energy Centre in Milton Keynes, features a freeform interior open space and monopitched roof with with solar panels to provide hot water and photo-voltaic panels producing electricity.
Pace Timber Systems Ltd, of Milton Keynes, developed a structure with a 12m clear open span to help retain the freeform open space and optimise naturally-induced low velocity airflow.
The building’s thermal stability is further improved by a partially buried east face, while Finnforest‘s Thermowood heat-treated timber is deployed as exterior cladding to the front and rear.
Phil Key, Pace’s managing director, said the project’s design and build critera exemplified the latest phases in building, such as “rethinking construction, continuous improvement and sustainable construction”, which he said also represented the company’s ethos.
