Forget bricks and mortar; the next generation of homes will be flat-packed and built from mass timber, with builders of affordable and custom-built designer houses ditching bricks, cement, and steel in favour of cross-laminated timber and other engineered wood products that save time, build costs, and energy bills.
That is, according to Glen Thomas, architect, designer and BBC Wales’ Home of the Year judge, who has pitched the cost of building an engineered timber house at 75% to 85% of a traditional home: “You’re getting a home far less expensive for bills so a much better investment, and the speed of build is incredible,” he told Wales Online overnight.
Timber-framed houses use far less carbon and are far quicker to build. They have been used across lots of different countries, including here. But in Finland in particular, the weather is savage, so for them, using timber frames answers the question of longevity and energy efficiency.
Why Wales is pushing to build more houses out of wood
According to a 2019 report, just 30% of all Welsh new builds are built from timber framing, with the remainder mostly made of steel and brick. However, “structural timber materials are no longer seen as ‘a quirk of fashion’, but as a serious and compelling proposition to address many of the issues that the Government faces, remains squarely centre stage.”
“Given the continued shortages of housing on the one hand and the environmental challenges of carbon reduction, cost and speed of build and lifetime affordability in the energy cost performance in affordable homes, timber more than meets these pressing needs,” the report said.
Wales has a chronic housing shortage. Data obtained by UK-based Channel 4 shows that the Government will fall short (by 6,000 dwellings) of reaching its 20,000-dwelling target by 2026.
But it’s not just government housing; new mass timber systems offer lighter, faster, and more cost-effective housing solutions, making the future “Grand Designs” far more accessible – potentially using timber manufactured from Welsh woodlands.
“A standard house can take a few years; with this method, it takes a few months. They get manufactured in the factory using the company’s own woodland and arrive as a flat pack ready to build, and we get Welsh people to build it, so the whole process only takes about six months.”
Glen Thomas, architect, designer and BBC Wales’ Home of the Year judge on the potential to build more houses out of engineered wood products.
He estimates that for the same cost as a traditional “small box house,” you could build a beautiful, spacious home with additions such as balconies, roof terraces, and drenched glass – this option makes all these high-end features affordable.
“We are led to believe in this country that these extras are a luxury and only for the wealthy to have – like a Grand Designs house, it’s an aloof thing. Modern architecture, people don’t think it’s accessible, but it really is, and these houses offer the opportunity.”
More Timber, Less Steel — Grand Designs of the Future?
Last week, Kevin McCloud, the long-time host of the UK-based Grand Designs Live, claimed that artificial intelligence is an “empowering tool” helping to build far more Grand Designs out of wood.
“We’ve seen over the past 25 years an increase in the use of synthetic materials in the building,” he said, adding that cross-laminated timber is a real game-changer for sustainable construction over the next 25 years.
“I think in 25 years from now, we’ll be using much less steel (and) much less concrete, too. The concrete we will be using will be zero carbon, or it’ll be carbon sequestered. Steel will be replaced by (this wood) – and we’ll be using a lot more laminated timber – and it’ll be homegrown too.”
- To learn more about the future of house building in Wales, click here for Mr Thomas’s interview with Wales Online.
