Uruguayan Timber
Timber as a resource for Social Housing
Examples of Social Housing design in Timber​
- Douglas Fir frame
- Larch and Spruce Cladding
- 145 x 45 Studs
- Stick built in 3 months
Milovaig, Skye: Rural Design Architects
Kilmun, Dunoon: CP Architects
- Developed through 'Fyne initatives'
- Home-grown timber frame
- Larch cladding
- 200mm glass wool in staggered studs
- Utilises the Segal self-build methods
- Structural frame from Douglas Fir with additional cross studs
- Larch cladding
- ​Collective self build resulting in unit cost of £32000
Benarty: Robert Duncan Architects
There are a huge number of building systems available to build timber housing. Some have been in use for a long time, such as traditional Log construction, the Segal method of the 1960's and various Timber Frame methods from around the world. Others, such as Brettstapel and composite timber/concrete methods are in their infancy and will undoubtedly be crucial to the future of timber construction.​​
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This is a useful example of a timber framed social house. Its setting in Skye shows how timber can be implemented in a harsh, damp environment while the speed of construction on site illustrates the simplicity brought by the timber frame. It is highly insulated, clad in local materials and has an industrial appearence.
Trada social housing paper: Standardisation vs. Customisation
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This paper sets out a number of key sizes and solutions for what it believes social housing should be constructed from. ​
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- Timber frame should be built in standard lengths of 12 metres with walls produced in standard 1200 mm lengths and roof and floors at 600 mm
- The dimensional flexibility is given by the junctions between the wall panels
- Wall panels are a storey height rather than floor to ceiling height to simplify vapour control and insultation
The social housing project was developed through a government initative and importantly uses home grown timber to respond to the housing demand. The buildings are also well insulated and aesthetically pleasing.
This project uses the Segal method to produce exceedingly cheap buildings, an aspect that is often seen as the most important by those in control of the purse strings. The building also uses additional cross studs to improve the locally produced material. Uruguayan timber is of fine quality in comparison yet it is interesting to understand the structural component within a timber frame.
- ​​Buildability​
- Modularity
- Simplicity
- Moisture and vapour control
We will be looking into these different methods and how we can implement them into a design suitable for Uruguay and to analyse the merits of each with respect to the following:
- Ease of extention
- ​Cost
- ​Strength
- Finishes
