Heyne Tillett Steel & Studio RHE - Republic Masterplan

Sector: Commercial

Structural Timber Awards 2020- Commercial Project of the Year and Solid Wood Project of the Year.

The Republic Masterplan comprises the retrofit of two existing office buildings alongside revitalised public realm. The project uses timber to deliver a next generation workplace for creative enterprises. The completed masterplan forms part of our ongoing research and work with industry partners to position structural timber as a building material of choice within the commercial sector.

We undertook extensive archive investigations and material testing at the outset of the project which revealed detailed information about the building and its capacity for reuse. To extract the maximum value from the existing building, lightweight prefabricated engineered timber panels have been used to refurbish and extend the areas of the two existing office buildings. We worked in close collaboration with the client, architect and timber subcontractors, to propose timber structures from a very early stage.

Spruce timber and Siberian Larch timber, used respectively at the Import and Export buildings were carefully chosen for their pale aesthetic qualities, resulting in refined and tactile interior spaces. To achieve the interior detailing, bespoke structural solutions were developed, such as cantilevered concrete ground floor slab extensions, shallow steel box sections and embedded steel plates to create seamless beam to beam connections.

Sustainability was key to the brief and the use of timber across the masterplan has significant lowered material waste and embodied energy. The completed buildings both measure well within the RIBA 2030 Target for non-domestic structures. As timber is a natural carbon sequester, for both buildings until demolition the structures store more than 1.5 times the carbon used to build them.

Robert Wolstenholme, founder and CEO of Trilogy Property said:

"Structural Timber is used extensively at Republic and has been fundamentally important to achieving our goal of minimising carbon emissions as we complete the radical overhaul of our buildings to create a next-generation work campus for creative talent and innovation. Studio RHE and Heyne Tillett Steel have identified strategic opportunities to improve the quality and quantum of space at Republic and the team's skilful design for prefabricated structural timber extensions and infills has achieved an uplift in usable floor area from 505,000 to 605,000 sq ft across the campus, while saving us 864 tonnes of CO2 emissions when compared to concrete and steel construction. The exposed timber lining the atriums at Republic has become one of the visual highlights of the campus, with beautifully detailed natural materials contributing to the sense of wellness, focus and space that are crucial to our target market of creative occupiers."

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