Super Tall Timber project

An urbanising global population is leading to an increasingly dense built environment. Often this means people living and working in taller buildings. Throughout history – and in many parts of the world today – timber and other plant-based materials have played a major role in low-rise construction; but despite the many environmental, aesthetic and construction advantages, the natural

variability and limited dimensions of these materials mean that they have not historically proved suitable for tall building construction. However, a new generation of engineered timber and plant-based products allow many of the limitations of variability and size to be overcome.

The Super Tall Timber project seeks to provide the understanding necessary to design and construct tall buildings using these new materials. Furthermore, by pushing the limits of what is possible with today’s materials we are able to explore the likely requirements for the engineered timber and plant-based materials of tomorrow.

The Super Tall Timber project is funded by an EPSRC Bright IDEAS award and is being carried out collaboration with leading international architecture and engineering practices. By working closely with practitioners we are able to explore the challenges associated with the design of real tall buildings in timber and to develop technologies that are timely and relevant to industry. By combing our fundamental and applied research capabilities with the expertise of leading designers we are establishing a virtuous circle of design-led-research and research-led-design.