We continue our 21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series with a look at Waugh Thistleton Architects' Murray Grove, "the original timber tower".
On an unassuming street in the east London borough of Hackney is a relatively small housing block that looks entirely unremarkable.
But this building – the world's first plyscraper – kickstarted a timber revolution.
▲ Murray Grove大厦是2009年最重要的建筑
Murray Grove was the most significant building of 2009
作为建筑界的丰收年,2009 年见证了全球众多地标性项目的落成,其中包括扎哈·哈迪德在罗马设计的MAXXI博物馆、大卫·奇普菲尔德在柏林设计的新博物馆,以及由James Corner Field Operations和Diller Scofidio + Renfro在纽约设计的高线公园。
A blockbuster year for architecture, 2009 saw numerous landmark projects opening around the globe. Highlights included Zaha Hadid's MAXXI in Rome, David Chipperfield's Neues Museum in Berlin and the first section of the High Line in New York by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
However, the much more low-key Murray Grove would have the greatest impact on architecture in the following years. Described by east London studio Waugh Thistleton Architects as "the original timber tower", it was the first high-rise housing project in the world to be constructed almost entirely from engineered timber.
"The exemplar project has spearheaded the introduction of CLT [cross-laminated timber] in the UK, and pioneered a wider international movement in its use," Waugh Thistleton Architects co-founder Andrew Waugh told Dezeen as part of our Timber Revolution series.
"It seems to have really kickstarted a whole tall-timber movement – in the US, Asia and Europe it's much more widely known about."
▲ 这座建筑全是木结构
The building has an entirely timber structure
Built at a time before mass-timber was widely used, let alone for high-rise housing, the nine-storey block demonstrated that wood could be a safe and viable structural alternative to steel and concrete.
According to Waugh Thistleton Architects, using timber instead of reinforced concrete prevented 125 tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere, while the structural fabric of Murray Grove stores more than 180 tonnes of carbon.
Built for developer Telford Homes, the block contains 19 private and 10 subsidised apartments. The timber structure acted as an alternative way to meet sustainability targets without using add-ons like solar panels.
To enable it to be built, Hackney Council waived the standard London planning requirement for housing developments to have on-site renewable energy generation to reduce carbon emissions.
From the first floor upwards, load-bearing walls, floor slabs, lift cores and stairs were constructed from CLT on top of foundations and a ground floor made from reinforced concrete.
It was built using load-bearing panels made from layers of spruce, which were manufactured in Austria by timber supplier KLH and shipped to London on trucks before being assembled on site.
The prefabricated structure was assembled by KLH employees in 27 days, with the whole building completed in 49 weeks. According to a report by the Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA) a concrete building would have taken 72 weeks to build.
▲ 木结构在公寓内部不可见
The timber structure was not visible in the apartment interiors
Although the timber structure was highly innovative, it was largely hidden both internally and externally, with the developer concerned that timber might put off buyers.
The pixelated facade, which was informed by Gerhard Richter's painting Les gris entre ciel et mer du nord, was made from 2,500 panels made from wood pulp and fibre cement. Inside, the apartments were finished to a standard developer specification.
Described as a "game-changer" by the World Economic Forum, the tower drew global attention and proved to many that building tall with timber was possible.
Almost more significant than the building itself was the research that surrounded it. While the building won a Judges Special Award at the Wood Awards, a book published about the process won the RIBA President's Medal for Research.
▲ 这座建筑引发了高层木结构住宅的革命
The building started a revolution in high-rise timber housing
It prompted multiple countries to reconsider timber as a structural material, with many governments changing regulations to allow it to be used.
"What's surprising is the lack of precedents to this project in the woodier parts of Europe, principally for regulatory reasons," Oliver Lowenstein wrote in the Architect's Journal at the time.
"For the moment, the irony remains that the UK, a country with hardly an engineered wood sector to its name, is producing the tallest cross-laminated timber high-rise across the continent."
In the UK, Murray Grove was treated as a pilot scheme by the National House Building Council and Building Research Establishment.
插图由Jack Bedford绘制,摄影由Will Pryce完成。
The illustration is by Jack Bedford and photography is by Will Pryce.