Singapore’s new trend, cross laminated timber buildings

Australia's first timber high rise apartment building, Forte. Pic: Lend Lease

Friday 26 September 2014

Singapore is adopting cross laminated timber (CLT) for structural components in its buildings.

This change came about after Singapore Civil Defence Force has officially revised its fire code to allow the use of CLT.

Australian developer Lend Lease is introducing CLT technology to Singapore, which promises productivity and cost savings in addition to environment benefits.

Some benefits of using CLT

• 80 percent lighter than concrete so the foundation for a building constructed with CLT will not have to bear much weight.
• The stacked layers of CLT result in a predictable and slower rate of burning.
• Timber is renewable and requires the lowest energy and water consumption of any building material.
• CLT can be recycled after the building is demolished.

Lend Lease will be leading a consortium under Pre-Project Innovation Consortium, an initiative by Singapore’s Economic Development Board, to test-bed the use of CLT in Singapore.

Lend Lease has previously completed its Forte project, comprising of 23 CLT apartments in Melbourne, in 2013.