Prefabricated Engineered Timber Schools in the United Kingdom: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Due to changing demographics, the UK faces a significant shortage of school places. The UK government aims to build large numbers of new schools to meet this demand. However, legally binding carbon emissions mitigation commitments might limit the ability of the government to adequately meet this demand on-time, on-budget, and within sustainability targets. This paper assesses the opportunity for prefabricated engineered timber construction methods to help meet the demand for new primary and secondary school buildings in the UK within these constraints. Building on a study of past government-led school building programmes and the state-of-the-art developments in engineered timber construction, this paper outlines the benefits that an engineered timber school building programme could have on a sustainability and procurement level. A strategy is then proposed for the wider adoption of engineered timber for the construction of school buildings in the UK, including detailed guidelines for designers and policymakers. The study concludes with recommendations for the adaptation of this strategy in different countries, depending on context-specific requirements, therefore promoting a generalised adoption of sustainable and efficient construction processes.