Design-led workspace specialist TOG has come together with dedicated timber specialists Waugh Thistleton Architects to explore a new approach to workplace design.
In The Black & White Building, they have explored an ‘architecture of sufficiency’–where every element serves a purpose, nothing is superfluous, and all materials and processes are as efficient and sustainable as possible.
Their new seven-floor mass-timber building in the heart of Shoreditch sets out to demonstrate that timber is not just a viable alternative to the conventional concrete and steel used to build offices, when it comes to performance and sustainability, it is the preferable option.
Standing 17.8 metres above the Shoreditch streetscape –on, appropriately enough, the site of a former timber seasoning shed –The Black & White Building is the first building that TOG has actively built from scratch.
Photo: Jake Curtis.
Best known for sensitive and considered retrofitting and renovation, TOG has worked with Waugh Thistleton Architects to produce a structure that can serve as a model for the office architecture of the future.
Created using renewable materials and highly innovative construction methods, The Black & White Building is both a landmark in sustainable architecture and a powerful statement of intent for TOG.
The building is situated a stroll from the tech hub of Old Street and Silicon Roundabout, on Rivington Street in Shoreditch –one of London’s very first ultra-low emission thoroughfares.
The previous building on the site –a 11,000 sq ft structure painted black and white –was incapable of meeting the area’s growing workspace demand but also unviable for extension, so TOG co-founders and co-CEOs Olly Olsen and Charlie Green were determined to create the most sustainable building that they possibly could.
Their research led them to Waugh Thistleton Architects – a firm responsible for pioneering timber designs for over a decade, including landmark residential blocks such as Dalston Works and Murray Grove, as well as Vitsoe’s Leamington Spa HQ.
TOG and Waugh Thistleton set out to create a building that minimised carbon in both its construction and, once complete, its operations.
The architects proposed a structure built from the ground up using cross-laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL). These high-performance engineered wooden materials generate much less greenhouse gas emissions in the production than steel orcement, saving thousands of tonnes in CO2, while also being highly durable.
“The principal message of The Black & White Building is sustainability –this is a mainstream, grade-A central London office building, built entirely from timber,” said Andrew Waugh, Waugh Thistleton Architects.
“It clearly demonstrates that mass timber is a viable replacement for concrete and steel in the mainstream office market, saving thousands of tonnes of CO2. We’re trying to change the way we build, to transform the industry.”
As well as generating much less waste than more common building materials such as iron, steel and cement, CLT and LVL also have the advantage of being totally replenishable. The CLT frame was chosen for its perfect balance of sustainability, lightness and strength. Glulam (made from glue-laminated layers of timber) is used for the curtain walling, and the columns and beams are made out of beech LVL.
Overall, The Black & White Building creates 37% less embodied carbon than a comparable concrete structure, and serves as a long-term carbon store for 1,014.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (55% of the building’s total) sequestered in the timber structure.
The team expects to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating once the building is complete.
