At seven storeys, construction firm
CCG (Scotland)'s recently
completed Ellerslie Road
development is Scotland’s tallest
timber building. It is also Scotland's first
multi-storey domestic CLT (cross-laminated
timber) building. Building Warrant approval
has set a precedent in the country, the
result of evidence supplied to Building
Standards Scotland, Glasgow City Council
and Scottish Fire & Rescue Services.
Built on the banks of the River Clyde at
Yoker, a town just west of Glasgow,
Ellerslie Road provides 42 one-, two- and
three-bedroom contemporary mid-market
rent apartments for Sanctuary Homes, part
of Sanctuary Group. The new building,
which was designed by MAST Architects,
optimises the efficiency of CLT with six
apartment modules arranged around one
central stairway in a ‘T’ shaped form.
Apartments are designed around a
standard template used by CCG for all
residential units, however CLT’s ability to
achieve long, uninterrupted spans has
allowed for a flexibility in the layout of
apartments from floor to floor which would
have been more constrained with
traditional forms of construction. Engineer
Smith and Wallwork was responsible for
the design of the cross-laminated timber
superstructure, working collaboratively
with solid wood specialist Eurban at detail
design stage to ensure a smooth offsite
manufacture and onsite assembly process.
The entire superstructure is built from
Stora Enso PEFC certified CLT including
the common areas and lift shaft.
Structural wallsThe lift shaft structural walls are formed by
100mm thick CLT panels tied together to
form a rigid tube with the shaft independent
from the CLT separation wall between lobby
and apartment. The CLT shaft is restrained
laterally at each of the seven floor levels
with the CLT panels forming the lobby slab
and capped with a 120mm thick CLT 'lid'
used to fix the hooks to install the lift without
the need for any steel lifting beam.
A bespoke platform is used to support
the superstructure due to the
lightweight nature of CLT and the
exposure to wind loadings along the
HOUSING & REGENERATION
river. The superstructure includes
design features to provide enhanced
resistance to disproportionate collapse
and this has encouraged the Institution
of Structural Engineers ( IStructE) to
start a review process for Part A3 –
Building Regulation Disproportionate
Collapse as it is recognised that there
are a number of forms of construction
that would benefit from a review.
Rigorous standards“This is the first major domestic CLT
building in Scotland and Scottish Building
Regulations are vigorous, requiring a
supervising engineer to sign off all
calculations prior to construction,”
comments, Simon Smith, Director at Smith
and Wallwork. “One of the key issues
when building with CLT is efficiency, in
terms of material use and standardisation.
“At Yoker we have managed to deliver
a standard CLT platform construction
using standard connection details and no
platform reinforcement. CLT use density is
0.29m3/m2, which is low considering the
tall and exposed nature of the site.
Earlier this year Sanctuary Homes completed the first major domestic cross-laminated timber(CLT) building in Scotland at Ellierslie Road in Yoker, near Glasgow. LABM has all the details.
© CCG (Scotland) Ltd. The CLT panels being installed
Stand tall
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“ The superstructure includes design features to provide
enhanced resistance to disproportionate collapse and
this has encouraged the Institution of Structural Engineers
to start a review process for Part A3 – Building Regulation
Disproportionate Collapse.”
© CCG (Scotland) Ltd. The project is the subject
of two academic research programmes
© CCG (Scotland) Ltd. The apartment block was
built on the banks of the River Clyde at Yoker
The lightweight nature of the CLT
structure reduces foundation loads but
does mean the exposed River Clyde site
causes some challenges due to wind
loadings and ultimately with holding down
the building; in several instances we have
tied the CLT down to the concrete
foundations which act as ballast.
“We also had some interesting
discussions with the gas industry and their
representatives about disproportionate
collapse.” Simon continues: “In Scotland
gas is often delivered to the door of
individual dwellings which is therefore
considered as a higher risk on an
apartment by apartment basis. We were
able to present robust evidence to the
Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers
(IGEM) that CLT structures can provide an
enhanced resistance to disproportionate
collapse and that Yoker in particular has
some enhanced disproportionate
collapse design features in terms of
notional removal.”
Matthew Linegar, Head of Building
Systems at Stora Enso and a Structural
Engineer who has spent 12 years
specialising internationally in CLT
construction comments: “The way in which
CLT elements are connected together
with many small ductile fixings and the
lighter weight nature of the material allows
panels to effectively re-distribute tensile
forces which may occur during a collapse.
“Until there is codified guidance for
disproportionate collapse, it is important
when using CLT for multi-storey
residential buildings to engage with
authorities and stakeholders early in the
design stage to allow designers to
respond and to accommodate the roof
Project fact file: Ellerslie Road,
Yoker, Glasgow
• Completed: January 2018
• Client: Sanctuary Homes
• Main Contractor: CCG (Scotland)
• Architect: MAST
• Timber Engineer: Smith and
Wallwork
• Structural Engineer: Scott Bennet
Associates
• CLT Installer: Eurban
• CLT Manufacturer: Stora Enso
requirements effectively in the creation of
safe and cost competitive buildings.”
Advantages of CLT
Ellerslie Road used 1,240 m3 of CLT, which
equates to a total of 757 tonnes of CO2
being removed from the earth's
atmosphere. Other key benefits of building
with CLT include the material's inherent air
tightness and thermal properties, which
mean that residents will benefit from
energy savings when compared to
traditional methods of construction. Solar
PV panels have also been installed on the
roof providing long-term energy savings
on residents’ energy bills. Building with
cross-laminated timber also resulted in
reduced construction time, thus minimising
impact on the surrounding community with
the entire seven-storey superstructure
installed and wind and watertight in a net
period of 16 weeks.
The project is the subject of two
academic research programmes looking
at factors including CLT’s airtightness,
acoustics, thermal performance,
productivity, LCA/whole life costing and
the building’s interaction with wind.
With thanks to Stora Enso for
preparing this article
n www.storaenso.com
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