Designing Timber issue 10 for online - Flipbook - Page 54
———— WAKING UP OLD RAILWAY SLEEPERS: THE ROUNDHOUSE WORKS ————
oundhouse Works
is a creative centre
designed speci昀椀cally
for young people.
It’s an impressive project
all round, which takes a
hybrid structural approach
by using cross-laminated
timber (CLT), glulam and
concrete to provide a range
of di昀昀erent spaces.
R
But the most novel aspect of
the Roundhouse Works story
is what’s on the outside: it is
clad with railway sleepers.
UNDERSTANDING
The building makes use of
space on the raised service
yard behind the Roundhouse
itself – a live music and arts
venue in Chalk Farm, London.
The new building sits in the
former railway sidings that
once served the adjacent
railway lines. At Roundhouse
Works, young people can
learn about everything from
digital entrepreneurship
to circus skills. Reed Watts
architects were employed
as Executive Architect with
Paddy Dillon on the scheme
designed by Allies & Morrison.
↑
Reed Watts carried out a
number of studies looking
at other materials, before
eventually taking inspiration
and ‘proof of concept’ from
6A architects’ Cowan Court
project at Churchill College
in Cambridge. Completed
in 2017, this had made used
of reclaimed French railway
sleepers for cladding. “We
wanted to use UK railway
stock, rather than importing
it,” Matt tells us.
Questioning the
proposed metal cladding
On the right track
The cladding was originally
speci昀椀ed to be cast steel
panels. This struck Reed Watts
as unnecessary in terms of
both cost and carbon.
“It would have been a lot of
metal for rainscreen cladding,”
points out architect Matt
Watts, Director and CoFounder. “And there were other
practical constraints, in that
not many cladding contractors
would be used to that – there
would be a cost premium.”
“Colin Rose, founder of
UKCLT and working at Reed
Watts at the time, led the
sourcing of suitable sleepers
to establish whether it would
be cost prohibitive. The idea
had added appeal because
the Roundhouse itself used
to be a turning shed for the
nearby railway – it’s where the
engines would turn around.
And, as we were aiming for
a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating,
we knew it could improve the
DESIGNING TIMBER
54
The lived-in
look is part of
the cladding's
distinctiveness;
all photos © Fred
Howarth
NOV/DEC 2025
project’s upfront carbon.”
Colin found a supplier, and it
became clear that many railway
sleepers would be unsuitable.
Some are made from creosoted
oak or Scots pine, which would
be 昀椀ne in terms of durability; but
creosote is a highly 昀氀ammable
material.
“So we wanted something that
was untreated. The company
that we were speaking to,
Railway Sleepers Ltd, take stock
from the UK rail network, and
o昀昀er what are called relays,
which are high-spec sleepers
that are designed to be relaid
in di昀昀erent locations. That’s
what we speci昀椀ed, made of
Australian Jarrah wood.”
After they arrived, Reed Watts
also sent o昀昀 a sample from one
of the sleepers to be lab-tested
for petrochemicals, just to make
sure that the sleepers were
indeed free of any 昀氀ammable
treatments. The tests were
comprehensive, and found no
petrochemical traces.
