Associate Director Edward Marchand joined fellow STA winners to discuss the opportunities ahead for timber technology

23.03.2021

"It was a very tricky site only a few metres above the tunnels coming out of King's Cross Station. So it had to be a lightweight solution that would not impact on the tunnels. Reduced concrete foundations meant we could reduce embodied carbon of the whole and offsite manufacture allowed us to speed up installation." - Edward Marchand, Associate Director on why we opted for timber as our primary construction material in Sports Halls at King's Cross

It's been fantastic to see our project Sports Hall at King's Cross for Argent gain traction in awards and press. It was Highly commended in the 'Architect of the year' category the 2020 Structural Timber Awards and it has recently been added online as a case study in the awarding body's Structural Timber Magazine.

 Associate Director Edward Marchand was invited to the virtual ST Awards winners roundtable event which brought together a group behind the diverse array of projects, people and products who won an award this year. The roundtable attendees took some time out to discuss in more detail the many opportunities ahead for timber technology. Furthermore, they debated the concepts behind the realisation of net zero targets, energy efficiency and the circular economy.

ST: How does the structural timber sector better communicate this low carbon/embodied energy message to the wider construction sector?

EM: "Acceptance and availability of test evidence is still lacking, so we need to find a way of creating a universally accepted benchmark. There is also a lack of certified fire engineers to properly assess your design. In terms of insurance it's not about life safety and asset protection, it's also about PI insurance and that is being capped."

Read the full write-up of the roundtable event in Structural Timber Magazine's Spring Issue here.