Scotframe, one of Scotland’s largest offsite timber frame specialists, has opened a new showroom and sales office in Cumbernauld. 

Responding to the increasing demand for timber homes, this new centre offers self-builders the chance to meet the experienced sales team face-to-face, discuss the timber kits available and consider finishing touches that make a house a home.

As the Government works to ‘build back greener’ the Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI), in partnership with Waugh-Thistleton Architects, have hosted the UK Construction Minister Lee Rowley on a site visit to the Black and White building.

The Minister was taken for a tour of the exemplary fully engineered timber building, which is owned by The Office Group (TOG), the premium flexible workspace provider with a platform of more than 50 buildings across the UK and Germany and will be the tallest timber office structure in London when complete later this year.

Boasting a powerful sustainable agenda, the hybrid structure comprising beech Laminated Veneer Lumbar (LVL) frame with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) has resulted in 37% less embodied carbon than an equivalent structure built using steel or concrete, demonstrating how a shift towards the use of biogenic materials in construction could help the industry to significantly reduce its impact on the environment.

Nordic Brown pre-oxidised copper and larch cladding together define the natural character of a contemporary home, nestling amongst the treetops on the Island of Hirvensalo, part of the Turku archipelago in Finland.

Locally-based Sigge Architects’ design sought to reconcile their client’s need for a permanent working home combined with the essential characteristics of a Summerhouse for leisure. The Finnish Summerhouse epitomises ‘mökkielämä’ or ‘cottage life’, with its tradition of treading softly on the land and respect for nature. The three-storey building – known simply as ‘Villa L3’ – was envisaged as a deceptively simple modern structure with clean lines and a certain stature. A restrained palette of natural materials enables it to sit comfortably in its elevated location within a gently sloping forest.

Contracting giant BAM has committed to running all of its UK construction machinery on recycled cooking oil, contributing to its goal of reducing carbon emissions from its activities. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is an advanced renewable fuel derived from waste products.

In 2020 BAM consumed 7.1 million litres of red diesel – around 70% of the company’s total direct carbon footprint. HVO, which currently costs around 15% more than red diesel, reduces net CO2 emissions by as much as 90%.