Murray Grove
The original timber tower
Location
Hackney, London
Status
Completed
2009
Client
Telford Homes
Budget
£ 3.9 million
RIBA workstages
Concept to Completion
Awards
RIBA President's Award for Research 2009
BCI Building Project £3m - £50m 2009
Murray Grove is the first tall urban housing project to be constructed entirely from pre-fabricated solid timber, from the load bearing walls and floor slabs to the stair and lift cores.
APPROACH
The nine-storey tower is built from a tight honeycomb of structural panels, with a timber core providing stability, and inset balconies with structural balustrades to strengthen the outer structural wall.
Zoom image
Section showing honeycomb structure
DESIGN
Completed within 49 weeks, and delivering 29 fully insulated and soundproof apartments, the project demonstrated for the first time that CLT has the potential to be a financially viable, environmentally sustainable and beautiful replacement for concrete and steel in high-density housing.
Its distinctive pixelated façade, made up 2,500 individual panels in three hues, arranged to capture how the shadows fell on the site of the building, means that the modern, Gerhard Richter’s abstracts inspired aesthetic fits comfortably into its context. The lightweight wood-pulp cladding avoids adding unnecessary bulk to the tower.
Zoom image
Elevations inspired by Gerhard Richter's "Les gris entre ciel et mer du nord"
RESULT
The exemplar project has spearheaded the introduction of CLT in the UK, and pioneered a wider international movement in its use.
