You don’t have to look far to see that timber frame could be on the verge of entering a potential golden age. The positive signs are all there – changes in Building Regulations favouring timber construction, huge new government affordable housing plans, the shortage of brick/block skilled labour, new technology and changing attitudes among major housebuilders.

And if you add the magic words “sustainability” and “natural product”, you have a convincing case that timber frame should be here to stay. The bad memories created by the infamous World in Action exposé of shoddy timber frame site practices 20 years ago, appear to have been exorcised.

Considerable credit for this has to go to the Building Research Establishment for its study “Moisture Conditions in the Walls of Timber Frame Housing” which concluded that the design and construction principles of timber frame houses were satisfactory.

The BRE/TRADA TF2000 research into multi-storey timber frame has also had a positive impact.

The UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) is also now at the forefront of stimulating interest, distributing more than 15,000 of its “Timber Frame – the Choice is Yours” consumer brochures during the first half of 2003 alone. UKTFA publications for architects, housing associations and local authorities are also lined up, a training programme highlighting training, safety, technical issues and sustainability is rolling out and the UKTFA website is being upgraded.

UKTFA marketing director David Hart said: “Timber frame has a natural ability to respond to the growing demands from government for new buildings that improve the UK housing stock.”

He said Building Regulation changes, most recently in Parts L (thermal insulation) and E (sound insulation), also continue to put pressure on site labour, especially when building in masonry.

“Timber frame responds well to increasing standards of performance and manufacturers are now balancing the demand for more to be done in the factory – for example closed panels and floor panels – with the need to increase capacity in unit numbers.”

Market share

Timber frame’s share of the UK’s new build housing market is predicted to hit 14% this year, according to the National House-building Council. The UKTFA believes it will reach 15%.

The figure for England and Wales is currently about 9%, compared to about 55% in Scotland, where it is more traditional to build in wood. Incidentally, TRADA says timber frame accounts for about 70% of low rise construction in the developed world.

For 2001 the UKTFA recorded a 24.5% increase in industry turnover to £306m (£246m in 2000) and a 21.4% increase in the number of units manufactured to 29,272. About 30% of developments by housing associations are now estimated to be timber frame while 90% of the self-build market is wood construction.

Considerable success is being experienced in both commercial and residential sectors.

Timber frame is also being chosen for educational projects. One of the latest, Mossbourne Community Academy, located in Hackney, will involve the erection of a three-storey 1,000-member glulam frame – the largest building using this kind of construction in the UK. Constructional Timber won the £800,000 contract.

Budget hotels are another growth sector, with Whitbread and Scottish & Newcastle using timber frame to increase its bed numbers from 17,000 to 25,000 over the next few years.

But it is in the housing market where there is greatest excitement, with much of the growth occurring around London and the south-east, where site skills shortages are most acute.

Here there is evidence of timber frame being used for affordable and luxury homes, while the number of apartment developments is rising, partly due to the impact of PPG3 (Planning Policy Guidance Note 3).

Industry investment

Timber frame specialists in Scotland and Ireland clearly appreciate the growth potential in England and Wales and are investing heavily to capitalise.

Stewart Milne Group has opened a £10m factory at Witney in Oxfordshire, and Robertson Timber Kit is about to open a £5m factory in County Durham. Ireland-based Century Homes is investing e15m in a three-year expansion, while its acquisition of Alpha Timber Frame last year has given it a foothold in England and in Scotland, Rob Roy has also recently invested in a new plant,

And southern-based players are following suit. Westbury plc’s SPace4 factory at Castle Bromwich is increasing output from 600 modular homes last year to 2,000 this, while three-year-old Pace Timber Systems of Milton Keynes expects to turn over £16m this year and produce 2,000 units.

One of the UK’s leading wood players, International Timber has also just opened a plant in Newport to supply components to timber frame kit makers, backing up its Grangemouth facility.

“This market is worth £150-200m a year and is increasing all the time. It represents a considerable business opportunity for us,” said International Timber commercial director Tony Miles.

&#8220The timber frame market is increasing all the time… it represents a considerable business opportunity to us”

Housing shortage solutions

Affordable housing is perhaps being seen as timber frame’s potentially most valuable market because of its demands for energy efficiency, quick build and low maintenance costs.

Deputy prime minister John Prescott’s “Sustainable Communities – Building for the Future” programme will be a major driver in this sector. Details were recently released on the first phase involving 200,000 affordable homes to be built in the south-east.

Since the Egan report, the government has been making encouraging noises about using off-site manufacture to meet these ambitious targets. The DTI has provided £1.5m for two research projects into off-site production. And the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council has just awarded a further £1.2m to Napier University for timber frame and timber in construction research.

Pace Timber Systems is a partner to Wilmott Dixon, one of the leading social housing developers in the country.

Managing director Phil Key said: “A big change we are seeing is with the housing associations. It’s very clear the Housing Corporation will not fund them unless they are Egan principle compliant by the end of 2004. That’s pushing them towards prefabrication.”

Pace, whose output is 65% social housing, is receiving orders for key worker accommodation. It recently completed 150-bed nurses’ quarters at Hillingdon Hospital, while a 268-bed project at Hammersmith Hospital is in the pipeline.

Major housebuilders

Crucially, Mr Key said the major housebuilders are now “jumping on the bandwagon” – a point echoed by Hugh McKay, executive chairman of Stewart Milne Timber Systems.

Mr McKay said: “I can see a strong trend of the major housebuilders and private developers moving to systemised building solutions and timber frame is playing a major part in that.

“The percentage of new build is going to increase, fairly dramatically because of the impact from major housebuilders. The main driver is social housing.”

Mr McKay added that an increasing proportion of the dwindling resource of skilled construction labour is tied up in large development projects, like Heathrow Terminal Five. He also believes changes in Building Regulations will provide a big boost to systemised building over the next few years.

On the luxury homes front, there are new timber frame properties selling for more than £1m. Manor Kingdom of Scotland is building some huge houses, while Sussex-based Millwood Designer Homes is erecting homes in the south-east inspired by ‘Yeoman’ cottages of the Middle Ages, with one property on sale in Sevenoaks, Kent, recently for £1.2m.

Robin Davies, marketing director of Westbury plc‘s Space4 factory, said he is seeing an increase in orders, partly due to a recognition from major housebuilders that “they need to improve their products”.

Mr Davies said companies that have only been using brick and block are having to analyse their costs, with more and more looking to timber frame and more advanced systems like Space4 as a solution.

The Space4 factory makes closed panel external load-bearing walls containing insulation, doors and windows but not dry-lining. Mr Davies thought completely closed panels incorporating services would come first in the social housing sector.

There is speculation as to how fast the industry will take up advanced production methods. Currently, the overwhelming majority of timber frame buildings are conventional platform frame but other options do exist, including reverse walls, breathing walls, warm wall systems and closed panels incorporating services which are popular on the Continent.

Pace is one company developing a closed wall panel system, which it intends to use alongside its volumetric timber frame operation.

Casualties

Of course, the sector is not all plain sailing. Torwood, the former Beazer Homes timber frame operation, and Novaside went into receivership, while Wilson Connolly‘s Prestoplan operation admitted growing too fast and is reducing output. But in these scenarios there has been no suggestion that timber frame was at fault. In fact Novaside was later bought by Strathclyde Homes and Torwood’s Scottish plant was expected to find a buyer. Meanwhile, the Amphion Consortium, the specialist social housing developer which bought timber frame ‘kits’ from Torwood II in Ipswich, is lining up alternative suppliers.

Wood. for good is also promoting timber frame. It co-organised a timber ‘Masterclass’ contest for architects and works closely with the UKTFA. Its adverts have targeted architects, builders and the self-build sector and it is also running another competition, with the Royal Institute of British Architects, challenging students to develop buildings for an inner city development focusing on sustainability and use of natural resources. This has attracted over 250 entries – one of the biggest turnouts for a RIBA competition.