CLT vs Timber Frame
CLT vs Timber Frame, author Antony Fanshawe, director at Lamella MMC Ltd
The CLT superstructure is incredibly strong and ready to have doors, windows installed almost immediately.
CLT vs Timber Frame?
Money , the bottom Line.
With costs and profits as a key focus in any project.
CLT is now more cost competitive than ever before.
But as with any manufactured product cost reduces as volumes increase. At Lamella we are working on a range of modular designs which we expect to sell in large numbers and which clients will be able to buy off the shelf.
Or we can develop a design for you which we can manufacture for you. We can also enter into licensing deals to build your design for other clients if that is what you have in mind.
High carbon sequestering material.
This will always be a challenge because timber frame was an inherently cheaper building method whereas CLT is a high quality, low tolerance, immensely strong and high carbon sequestering material.
There is a need o brIng MMC to the building industry. CLT panels are manufactured in highly controlled conditions with high precision 5 Axis CNC machines to very fine building tolerances.
CLT can be assembeld on site or offsite as modular units. Timber frames are assembled on site and have the same quality, materials handling and tolerance issues that plague masonry builds.
Never be as strong as CLT.
Timber frame will never be as strong as CLT. Timber frame will never be as precise as CLT. It will never be as pleasant to live and work in as CLT and It is not as carbon sequestering as CLT. Unlike CLT, Timber Frame cannot be repurposed.
A CLT built envelope is easier to insulate, monitor and control and is much more likely to self-extinguish while retaining its structural integrity.
Timber frame’s only advantage over CLT is that the build cost is sometimes lower in some circumstances. But, even though CLT is a much better performing material on virtually every important criterion, we can come surprisingly close on cost . CLT is often cheaper on larger and more complex projects, or where our archetypes are specified.
The real difficulty with building with timber frame is that at the end of the day the client will always have a cheaply built timber frame building.
Designed in BIM CLT is a Modern Method of Construction, as already promoted by government.
It’s flexible and efficient.
Windows and doors a perfect fit every time.
Easy to design in and achieve EPC A rating, or above and minimise energy consumption
Eliminate first fix of the utilities on site altogether.
Simplify second fix.
As Henry Royce (Rolls-Royce) said
“The quality will remain long after the price is forgotten.”