Whitmore Road
Timber from the core
Status
Completed
2012
Client
Private Client
Budget
£2.6 million
RIBA workstages
Concept to Completion
WTA founding partner Andrew Waugh formed a cooperative with friends to develop this project on a prime canal-side site in Hackney, to realise a shared dream of living and working in a CLT building.
APPROACH
The seven-storey scheme provides two floors of canal-side office space, a double-height photographic studio and three triple-height family apartments with rooftop gardens.
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CLT structure
DESIGN
The CLT structure, which sits on a lower concrete ground floor, is arranged to minimise lateral spans and maximise the multilateral strength of the material. For the studio, the party walls above the space act as deep beams and the north and south facades as giant trusses, making a vast, 9m x 23m column-free space achievable in the centre of the building.
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Photography studio
Further pushing the boundaries of timber design, its structural capabilities allow the entire lightweight, CLT structure to cantilever 1.5m over the canal-side.
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Photography studio in construction
The CLT structure was erected on the tight site, bounded on two sides by existing buildings and the third by the canal, within five weeks, by a four-person team.
RESULT
The building is clad in sweet chestnut, a local, light durable hardwood. Timber reveals give depth to the elevations and large windows provide north light and canal views to the warm, quiet and insulated living and workspaces.
