A timber building claiming to be the UK’s largest educational development constructed using an interlocking log structure has been completed at Manchester Grammar School.
The 600m² Bexwyke Lodge uses a glulam frame coupled with an 88mm glue-laminated interlocking log structure, clad in larch. A further 600m² of anti-slip larch decking is used around the building.
It hosts five classrooms, music rooms, a staff room and a reception area for junior pupils at the school.
Cabinco Ltd, which designed and manufactured the building, added it is the first timber building in the UK to include acoustic attenuation to fully comply with Building Bulletin 93: Acoustic Design of Schools. Acoustic management specialist Acoustic Design Ltd was brought in to develop products to help the building meet the requirements of Building Bulletin 93, including components used to isolate the floor from walls and walls from the roof.
Cabinco also employed sun tubes, roof lights and natural ventilation to create a “comfortable, airy learning environment”.
“Our Cabinco home is the perfect base for our innovative new junior section,” said the school’s deputy high master Stuart Leeming.
