A Scottish construction firm is investing £4.2m in a ‘massive’ timber production plant following university research by The Institute for Sustainable Construction.
Lanarkshire-based firm CCG has bought a new 122,000 sq. ft. plant to make cross laminated timber (CLT). More commonly known as ‘massive’ timber, it is an exceptionally strong building material which can be used in commercial and residential structures.
The bold move came on the back of research led by Dr Robert Hairstains, who heads the Centre for Offsite Construction & Innovative Structures (COCIS). The research pooled academic expertise from across the Institute of Sustainable Construction, including The Wood Studio, Centre for Wood Science & Technologies and the Building Performance Centre.
The next step will hopefully be the integration of home-grown timber into the facility, which our research has shown is technically feasible once supply chain issues are resolved.
There is more information on Edinburgh Napier University’s news site.
this is still on your website? CCG confirmed to me over 12 months ago that they never progressed with this project and don’t manufacture CLT
Is there a Scottish or UK CLT manufacturer yet? Is there any advice that the Napier can offer a very Local Authority, who wish to build small classroom extension with CLT or is it best we go via the industry.
Hi,
This is a blog and old news items don’t necessarily get followed up with information about what actually happened. The closest thing the UK has to a CLT manufacturing facility at the moment is the vacuum press at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre’s innovation factory. If there is some innovation involved (perhaps relating to species choice, wood source or post-construction monitoring) there might be something that can be done with funding support – otherwise there is also a pay-as-you-go model. You can contact CSIC directly or speak to one of us about potential projects.
Robert Hairstans
Dan Ridley-Ellis