Mass timber is rising worldwide and is now a material of choice for building low, mid-rise, and high-rise towers—and perhaps fuel stations, too!
Located at Junction 20, the busy border crossing separating Ireland from Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland’s newest Circle K fuel station is ditching the traditional steel-frame canopy—primarily used in tilt-up light industrial fuel station construction—instead opting for a glulam beam and cross-laminated timber canopy, a green switch could be used to maintain and build on Circle K’s 420-plus stations nationwide.
Designed, engineered, manufactured, and fitted out by Glenfort Timber Engineering, Ireland’s only full-solution mass timber company, Circle K’s fuel canopy features a state-of-the-art design with the future in mind.
Glenfort Timber Engineering— which is also behind Ireland’s first mass timber canopy built over an electric fuel recharging station —is at the forefront of Ireland’s push to replace traditional steel and concrete systems with timber, capitalising on the “huge opportunity” to ramp up timber-based construction for future Irish buildings and homes.
Last year, the Royal Insitute of the Architects for Ireland awarded Glenfort its Irish Glulam beams, 100% sourced from Irish Sitka Spruce C16 timbers, with the “Best Construct Product” at The Architects Choice Awards.
According to Managing Director Cathal Campbell, using timber over fuel pumps is not only best for the planet but also entirely safe proof:
“Glulam has a predictable burn rate,” Mr Campebll said, adding that “this is taken into consideration at design creating a sacrificial char layer over the required structural beam size…this protects the beams that do not bend and buckle like steel in a fire.”
Mass Timber to Solve Ireland’s Building and Construction Puzzle?
Increasingly, Irish engineers and architects are looking for timber-led solutions to correct a construction market now in freefall, exacerbating soaring rents and overcrowding in Dublin.
A new report, “Timber for Sustainable Construction,” calls on the Irish government to reduce reliance on traditional steel and concrete construction, ramp up mass timber construction, and invest in higher-density buildings to meet population targets.
Published by Patrick McGetrick, a structural engineer and lecturer at the University of Galway, it calls on Ireland to ramp up the use of domestic timbers (like Irish Sitka Spruce C16) in homegrown projects.
“If we are going to build 50,000 houses every year, we won’t meet that target if we stay with traditional materials,” Dr McGetrick said, adding that Ireland “has a huge opportunity because of the amount of timber that will be available over the coming years.”
As it stands, more than 80% of Irish timber is exported overseas (mainly to England), with the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) calling on the government to establish a high-level cross-departmental task force to prepare an “overarching national strategy for all aspects of the timber industry.”
“It is critical that the government reduces cement use by supporting sustainable construction methods,” according to the CCAC, which includes “rapidly increasing the use of timber in all buildings in Ireland and implementing modern methods of construction.”
As it stands, just 24% of Irish buildings in 2020 were made from timber frames—compared to 83% in Scotland—and Ireland has some of the world’s most restrictive building requirements for mid-rise and high-rise construction.
According to Marie Donnelly, the chair of the CCAC, “updates to the building regulations that support increased use of timber in construction should be consolidated with the establishment of a high-level cross-departmental task force,” adding that “cross-laminated timber and timber frame that can replace concrete and steel in many applications, such as floors, roofs, walls and stairs, due to their strength and versatility.”
Given this, perhaps Circle K’s new timber fuel station is part of a much larger Irish green shift!
