The wooden industrial buildings allow developers to cut embodied emissions by up to 30%, while also benefiting from highly modular and flexible designs.
The new design tools incorporate a high degree of pre-fabrication, allowing for accelerated construction timelines, and can be configured for easy disassembly and reassembly as needs change.
Sebastián Hernandez, R&D Manager for Building Concepts at Stora Enso, said: “Industrial buildings are at the nexus of a number of megatrends in the UK. On the one hand, we have the moral and policy imperative to decarbonise our building stock; on the other, we have the planned renaissance of British manufacturing and shift to online shopping increasing demand for these types of structures.
“Not only can wooden industrial buildings enable companies to respond to these trends, but by moving away from monotone grey sheet metal and concrete, they can allow us to create better working environments for employees and improve the increase the quality of retail and industrial parks up and down the country.”
To support adoption of engineered timber for industrial buildings, Stora Enso has created a resource hub for architects and developers that includes interactive 3D models and technical specifications of eight different base types for different industrial buildings.
The industrial concept is the latest in a series of building concepts designed to support the construction industry in adopting mass engineered timber as a way to improve sustainability and building performance. Previous concepts include schools, offices and multi-storey residential buildings.
