Silver Service - Looking Back Over 25 Issues of ST Magazine!
As we celebrate 25 editions of Structural Timber Magazine, we thought we would take a quick flick through some back issues and pick out some memorable moments from the many industry developments and projects we have featured.
Since its first outing in October 2014, Structural Timber Magazine has seen the timber sector change shape and develop rapidly – especially with the boost in understanding of offsite manufacture and factory-based
methods. However, the success of timber has always rested on its merits as the most sustainable of all mainstream construction materials. But with the growing climate emergency, needs of the circular economy and healthier buildings more vital than ever, timber delivers many benefits as only such a renewable, natural material can bring.
Of course the huge growth in the use of engineered timber over the last decade in particular – especially cross laminated timber (CLT) and glulam – has seen architects and structural engineers take timber to exceptional new heights. Sometimes literally – which in itself has become a bone of contention in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy with As we celebrate 25 editions of Structural Timber Magazine, we thought we would take a quick flick through some back issues and pick out some memorable moments from the many industry developments and projects we have featured. arguments still unresolved over the 18m mark. So the construction industry is full of vagaries that are often very hard to predict. A perfect example over the publication timeline of the magazine, was the promotion of the 2016 zero carbon homes targets – then
unceremoniously scrapped alongside the respected Zero Carbon Hub by the David Cameron Government – to the present refocusing of those same requirements to achieve net zero emissions targets by 2050.
The debate surrounding the dearth of housing provision across the UK has also underpinned much of the talk of more sustainable housing and communities All those 300,000 homes we are told are needed per annum, aren’t going to be delivered via the usual building routes and traditional construction methods. But its more about the increasing requirements of reliability, quality and better industry productivity and performance across the board – using ‘fabric first’ principles to deliver better buildings. There has also been an admission, or at least an acceptance, at government level that offsite construction is a serious proposition and timber can benefit hugely from this. Mark Farmer’s ‘Modernise or Die’ report was commissioned and published at just the right moment in 2016 and focused minds across all levels of the built
environment. It is sometimes the Editor’s burden to decide what to include and what to leave out. Over 25 magazines we have attempted to provide a solid overview of the structural timber world in all its many systems and industry developments, with a range of opinions from across the timber supply chain. Outside of the timber bubble you can be easily forgiven for not quite understanding what makes the sector tick, so I hope over 25 issues that we have succeeded in bringing some of that into focus.
Over the next few pages we have picked out some key features. This is not an exhaustive round-up of the huge amount of material the magazine has covered over the last six years!
Over the next few pages we have picked out some key features. This is not an exhaustive round-up of the huge amount of material the magazine has covered over the last six years!
Certainly there have been so many stunning projects using timber that have been championed at the Structural Timber Awards – literally hundreds and hundreds of outstanding buildings – that we could write a book.
