These are still in development by the industry.

Oil based primers penetrate wood better than latex or water-based primers, providing greater resistance and are less likely to be scraped off during construction.. - Consider design details to prevent water ingress during construction and use.. Fire and insurance.Since the Grenfell tragedy, public policy has shifted towards a zero-combustibility approach in certain higher risk buildings, making the use of engineered timber more complicated.

This has increased insurance costs for mass timber construction.It is common practice to solve the problem by enclosing timber for increased fire protection.Unfortunately, this generates additional carbon emissions and waste.. Another issue with glulam and CLT is the debonding of layers during a fire.

The glue can start evaporating at a relatively low temperature causing engineered timber to fall apart even before it burns.If the timber only chars, it might remain stable but may not be suitable for compartmentation as smoke can break through at joints.. Our response is to:.

- Use engineered timber in lower buildings with a decreased risk of vertical propagation.. - Involve specialist contractors and fire specialists from early stages to ensure the material’s structural integrity in the event of fire and robust co-ordination between disciplines.. - Engage early with statutory bodies, supply chain, and timber contractors.. - Consider the use of sacrificial layers of timber to protect the rest of the structure and potentially result in self extinguishment.. - Use timber fire treatment such as intumescent paint to prevent the spread of fire and reduce the amount of smoke produced, taking account of the impact on recyclability.. - As a last resort, consider full fire bonding if there is a risk of debonding of layers.

This scenario is appropriate in multistorey residential buildings.. Other general concerns when using CLT include:.Data centres developments have baseline costs like utilities, land, civils and structure...

So the more data centre capacity you can fit onto your site, the more IT yield per square metre you will get, and the lower your cost per kW will be.. As data centre designers, we must aim to maximise the site yield.Here’s how we can do this:.

It is not uncommon for permitted development on data centre sites to be limited to around 20 metres .A typical hyperscale data centre design, with the racks, then space for cabling and power, then a ceiling void and structure, will have a storey-to-storey height of often of seven or eight metres, and sometimes more.