Industry driven innovation in healthy housing delivery: the case for Cross Laminated Timber

ABSTRACT

The delivery of housing has long been an issue of concern for academics, policymakers and built environment professionals. In recent years, Cross Laminated Timber has attracted significant interest among architects and their clients for its environmental and health benefits, as well as reduced build times. The Government’s Future of Cities Foresight briefing note identifies timber as a key material for the city and its role in small, domestic scale structural applications. This paper uses interviews with architects to discuss the benefits of Cross Laminated Timber homes have on the physical and psychological health of their occupants and barriers to its use.

KEYWORDS:

• Housing
• Cross Laminated Timber
• Grenfell Tower

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katharine Martindale

Katharine Martindale, BA(Hons), PGDipUD, MA, MLitt(Oxon), PhD is the founding director of Architecture + Urbanism Research Office and Visiting Lecturer and Associate at Nottingham University’s School of Architecture. She has been a researcher and lecturer at universities in Australia and the UK including the University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, Cambridge University and Oxford Brookes University, and was formerly the Head of Research and Innovation at the Royal Institute of British Architects. She is an Academician at the Academy of Urbanism, member of the Planning Institute of Australia and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.