PREFABRICATED TIMBER PANELS ALLOWED THE STRUCTURES TO BE ERECTED QUICKLY

摘要

Three new blocks of student accommodation at University of Wales, Swansea, may look much like any other campus residential development - one five-floor and two six-floor functional buildings on a tight site. However, appearances can be deceptive. Excluding an external cladding of non-structural brick work, these low budget buildings have been built from structural timber. The architect, Jonathan Hines of Architype, says this one of the first six-storey timber structures built for use, not research, in the UK. The Building Research Establishment (BRE) explored building tall in timber at its research facility in Cardington.The TF2000 project built the world's first ever six-storey timber-frame building in a venture with the Timber Research and Development Organisation (TRADA).The project was funded by the government and industry and results were published in 2003. Architype, an innovative practice with a reputation for exploring the limits of timber in construction, consulted with both BRE and TRADA to develop the Swansea blocks to six storeys using a structural timber frame.