Work will start next month on a new six-storey “truly special” timber-framed building—the next phase of the One Maidenhead masterplan in the United Kingdom’s South East. Designed by award-winning architects Waugh Thistleton, global leaders in timber design and construction, the new office tower, Trehus, will use mass timber (and stone) to reduce embodied carbon by 40% over a traditional concrete frame and target a BREEAM Excellent and EPC A rating.
The new office block, developed by HUB and built by contractor Glencar, is expected to open in Autumn 2026 – with Victoria Manston, HUB’s head of development, confident that “Trehus will be a truly special building, the first of its kind in a market that is seeing strong demand.” It is an attractive future office for a progressive, sustainability-minded business to call home – “(whilst) its timber frame and stone façade will provide an elegant addition to the town’s streetscape.”
According to Waugh Thistleton, Trehus—Norwegian for “House of Wood”—combines timber with natural stone, the proposed cladding material, which is an excellent way to reduce embodied carbon: “The stone we propose using is relatively small in size and would otherwise be considered a waste product from the quarry.” Meanwhile, “a lime-based mortar will be used to lay the brick, making it easy to demount at the end of the building’s life.”
Glencar – who will deliver the full construction and fit-out of the building – said the appointment demonstrates its ability to provide complex, high-quality, high-performance developments with sustainability at its core:
“Trehus is a forward-thinking scheme that will set a new benchmark for environmentally responsible office space in the Thames Valley. Its advanced timber construction and ambitious net-zero targets align perfectly with our commitment to sustainable building practices and technical excellence,” said Ben Fletcher, Glencar’s Operations Director.
The new scheme comes days after the UK government doubled down on plans to scale up timber use in construction following the re-release of its “Timber in Construction Roadmap 2025”—the latest and, to date, the most ambitious policy delivered by successive UK governments aiming to reduce the barriers to using timber construction across England: “At the individual level, carbon storage is 50% higher in timber framed homes than in masonry homes and can be up to 400% higher for larger buildings that use engineered timber products like Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) over concrete,” the report said.
- For more information on the UK’s roadmap to drive advanced timber construction, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
