What Is Mass Timber?

Mass timber is the name given to the various different types of engineered wood that can be used as structural building materials, including Cross Laminated Timber ("CLT"), glulam and Laminated Veneer Lumber ("LVL"). Interest in these materials is rapidly growing as an alternative to carbon-intensive concrete and steel. Only a few developers have taken a pioneering step, Bywater among them, in overcoming delivery challenges and building at scale in mass timber.

We believe that the use of mass timber has a major part to play in addressing the climate emergency and we are leading the way in its use in the construction and refurbishment of workspaces across our portfolio of projects.

The use of mass timber in property development can reduce the carbon impact of a project and has a range of other benefits. Mass timber workspaces for example can be healthier in both the construction and the occupational stages of a project.

Over the last five years we have invested a huge amount of time and financial effort into the development of a deep reserve of intellectual property regarding the use of mass timber in development. This knowledge sets us apart from the majority of UK real estate developers and asset managers and puts us at the front of a growing movement to lower the carbon impact of our industry.

At Bywater we currently have four projects where we are working with mass timber. Paradise SE11 is the most advanced example, where we are using our knowledge to build 63,250 sq ft of best-in-class timber workspace, whilst producing only 413kg of CO2e per sq m of embodied Carbon. This is 587kg, or 59%, better than the current best practice in construction and 31% better than the 2030 Greater London Authority target.