A three-year research project has found that English hardwood timber can be used safely and effectively in structural building elements, offering a potential alternative to imported materials.
The Building from England’s Woodlands (BFEW) project was funded by the Forestry Commission’s Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Fund and examined how timber grown in England’s deciduous broadleaf forests could be used more effectively in modern building systems.
It was led by the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), working with Edinburgh Napier University, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Ecosystems Technologies and dRMM Architects. The project brought together specialists in forestry, wood science, timber manufacturing, architecture and construction.
David Bole, head of green economy and skills at the Forestry Commission, said: “England’s woodlands are a national asset with the potential to play a vital role in addressing the climate emergency.
“The Building from England’s Woodlands project has demonstrated that homegrown timber, including a diverse range of hardwood species, can be used safely and effectively in modern construction. By unlocking the potential of our forests, we can reduce reliance on imported and carbon-intensive materials, support healthier and more resilient woodlands, and create new opportunities for sustainable growth across the forestry, manufacturing and construction sectors.”
The research concluded that, when appropriately selected and specified, English hardwoods can play a significant role in structural applications – a finding the project team said challenges long-standing assumptions about the suitability of homegrown timber for construction.
A key output of the project is the development of hybrid engineered timber products that combine hardwood and softwood within the same structural element. Testing found that hybrid cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued-laminated timber (glulam) products met all required strength and durability criteria using existing manufacturing methods.
The project team said using hardwood in key structural zones enabled material savings of approximately 10-15%, which could support lighter and more efficient building systems.
The research included two demonstration projects: the “Building from Forests” display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the installation of a hybrid hardwood-softwood glulam beam in NMITE’s new Skills Hub building in Hereford. The V&A display is on show in the furniture gallery until 30 October 2026.
The project team said the findings also align with the government’s Timber in Construction Roadmap and its wider net zero ambitions, and pointed to potential wider benefits including reduced embodied carbon, increased long-term carbon storage in buildings, more biodiverse forests and stronger rural economies through local manufacturing.
New opportunities
Professor Robert Hairstans, director of the Centre of Advanced Timber Technology at NMITE and head of the Centre for Offsite Construction and Innovative Structures at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “One of the greatest successes of this project has been bringing together expertise from across the forestry, manufacturing and construction sectors to solve shared challenges.
“The structural testing has given us greater confidence in the capabilities of English hardwoods, while the collaborative approach has helped turn research findings into real-world applications. This demonstrates how innovation, when supported by strong partnerships, can unlock new opportunities for sustainable construction and healthier, more resilient forests.”
Finbar Charleson, research lead at dRMM, said: “For architects, this research opens up exciting new possibilities. Rather than designing around a limited palette of imported materials, we can begin to design with the characteristics and diversity of our local forests in mind. The V&A exhibition helped translate complex research into a tangible experience, demonstrating that innovation in timber construction is not just a technical challenge but a cultural opportunity to rethink how we build, source materials and connect people with the landscapes around them.”
Louise Rogers of BE-ST said: “The Building from England’s Woodlands project demonstrates that the opportunity is not simply to use more timber, but to create higher-value manufacturing pathways that make better use of the resources available within our forests.
“By developing and testing hybrid engineered timber products, we have shown how English hardwoods can be integrated into modern manufacturing processes to create efficient, high-performance construction systems. This work directly supports the ambitions of the Timber in Construction Roadmap by providing evidence that innovation, domestic manufacturing capability and supply chain collaboration can help accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon built environment.”
Image credit: Piotr Wytrazek/Shutterstock
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