The existing campus of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company UCB in WindleshamSurrey was built according to the designs of the British architecture firm Heatherwick studio fundamentally transformed. At its center, “The Brain” was built—a unique building constructed using timber.
3D CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER
The load-bearing structure consists largely of free-form cross laminated timber. 1292 individual components, 1,500 m³ of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and 100 m³ of glulam were used. were used here. A continuous BIM planning was not possible due to the complexity andr novelty of using free-form, three-dimensional cross-laminated timber was decisive for the successful for the successful realization of the project.
A high degree of prefabrication, including the pre-assembly of steel and add-on components at the HASSLACHER group’s plants, optimized construction site processes and enabled efficient assembly. This led to a reduction in construction time and demonstrates that timber construction also offers potential applications in the field of organic architecture, which has historically been the domain of concrete.
