Stadthaus, London: raising the bar for timber buildings

The nine-storey Stadthaus building in Murray Grove, London is the world’s tallest timber residential building. It is also the first building of this height to have load-bearing walls and floor slabs as well as stair and lift cores constructed entirely from cross-laminated wooden panels. While cross-laminated timber construction has been around since the 1970s, several problems limited its use above six storeys. However, the advantage of low or negative embodied carbon dioxide, clean and safe processes and rapid assembly have prompted a range of solutions enabling taller structures. This paper describes the design and construction of the project, the practical and legislative concerns addressed and the lessons learned.