Timber in architecture – a TRADA celebration

To celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, TRADA has commissioned an inspirational publication entitled Timber in contemporary architecture - a designer's guide, written by leading experts in timber architecture and engineering Peter Ross, Giles Downes and Andrew Lawrence.

The illustrated book is a celebration of timber and its contemporary uses for designers, combining sound technical expertise with inspirational concepts. It includes more than 300 photographs and drawings.

Timber is a flexible and aesthetically appealing material that allows designers to develop creative, high quality, innovative and robust solutions to meet client needs and exceed their aspirations. There are now excellent examples of timber in landmark buildings such as the award- winning Savill Garden Visitor Centre in Windsor Great Park, in the nine-storey Murray Grove residential building, in wide span structures such as supermarkets and sports centres, and in both affordable and bespoke housing.

This wide range of potential uses is partly down to the many significant technical innovations over the last 25 years. In addition, progress and transparency in responsible sourcing means that timber is often preferred for its low environmental impact.

Timber in contemporary architecture investigates materials, connections and applications. Excellence in timber design is demonstrated in the last section of the book, which is devoted to highly illustrated case studies, some award-winning, some groundbreaking, all of which have been chosen for their inspirational qualities.