An IKEA group 1,200 home housing development in Stratford may not be timber-based, but the company is erecting a 45m wooden tower to underline its sustainability.
IKEA itself has developed its own timber kit building housing solution, BokLok. But pending planning permisson, the new 26-acre Strand East site, near the Olympic stadium, is being built by another Inter IKEA division, its property arm LandProp and will be principally masonry construction.
“Like all our developments, it will be very green, aiming for a minimum of the second to highest BREEAM rating,” said Harald Müller, Inter IKEA business development manager.
Planning permission for the timber tower, as part of a public square on the development, has already been given and erection is under way. It has been designed by a UK architect, but made by Italian timber building and construction systems specialists Wood Beton.
“It is all in pine and a self-supporting lattice structure, with no steel frame, a bit like a wooden Meccano kit,” said Mr Müller. “It is being constructed in 15m sections and the last should be complete around Easter.”
