London based Waugh Thistleton Architects has been selected as the only UK partner in a new EU
consortium targeting the reduction of CO2 emissions through increased use of wood for multi-storey
buildings. Build-in-Wood is a €8.6 million project awarded by Horizon 2020.
The project is made up of a consortium of 21 partners. Its goal is to make wood the main choice of
material for construction of multi-storey buildings. Kirsten Haggart of Waugh Thistleton explains
“widespread construction of multi-storey wood buildings would significantly reduce the construction
sector’s CO2 emissions. Trees and are still the best method of carbon capture on earth. Our goal is to
create a tall timber building kit of parts that optimises current timber technology. The system will be
used as an exemplar of timber technology to dispel the barriers to timber adoption within the
industry.”
The consortium partners represent the entire value chain from building materials to the finished
structure with input from universities who will test the system and material prototypes. In addition
to designing building systems, the project also involves manufacturers, end users, politicians, and
local European communities to increase the knowledge and acceptance of wood as a building
material.
European demand for construction of apartments is estimated at 1.6 million units annually between
2020
Build-in-Wood is receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement No 862820 and runs for four years from September
2019 to August 2023. Consortium partners are:
Danish Technological Institute (Coordinator) Denmark
The Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology Norway
C.F. Møller Sweden
National Technical University of Athens Greece
Urbasofia SRL Romania
Brasov Metropolitan Agency Romania
Waugh Thistleton Architects Ltd United Kingdom
The Alexandra Institute Denmark
University of Siena Italy
proHolz Tirol Austria
Bimetica Parametric Design Services S.L. Spain
Rotho Blaas SRL Italy
rtd services OG Austria
Adserballe & Knudsen A/S Denmark
Ergodomus Timber Engineering Italy
Habitech – Distretto Tecnologico Trentino S.c.a r.l. Italy
Splitkon AS Norway
Knauf Gips KG Germany
Scandi Byg A/S Denmark
hsbCAD GmbH Germany
EllisDon Canada
About Waugh Thistleton Architects: Waugh Thistleton Architects is an award winning, research
oriented practice that puts high quality architecture and environmental responsibility at the core of
its work. Waugh Thistleton focuses not only on energy in use, but crucially on low embodied carbon
and innovative construction methods. The practice passionately believes that sustainability and
world class design solutions are one and the same. Using the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle
they produce innovative and imaginative design solutions that harness leading technologies.
Having designed their first cross laminated timber building 15 years ago, Waugh Thistleton built the
world’s first urban housing project constructed entirely from pre-fabricated engineered timber and
subsequently the world’s largest CLT building firmly establishing the practice’s reputation as a world
leader in timber design and offsite construction.
Waugh Thistleton has experience delivering a diverse range of building types, including affordable
housing, private residential projects, commercial spaces, mixed-use, cultural and leisure. The quality
of their buildings and commitment to the use of offsite construction has earned the practice an
international reputation in environmentally viable architecture and design.