A CLT structure is not built: it is assembled. The real work already happened at the factory, at cutting; on site remain the precision of the first wall, the right screws in the right places, and one true rule — timber must never touch concrete nor stay wet while standing still.
A CLT (cross-laminated timber) structure uses large solid-timber panels as load-bearing walls and floors. It is a prefabricated, dry system: panels arrive cut to the millimetre and are assembled in days, cutting time, noise and waste. For the same performance it weighs a fraction of concrete, stores carbon instead of emitting it, and offers timber comfort and aesthetics that are hard to match.
click a beat · arrow keys ← → walk the site · dashed pauses are the chemistry at work
The detail of the craftfrom model to schedule
BIM modelling and CNC cutting of the panels in the factory, with pre-arranged holes and joints.
"In CLT, mistakes are made at the desk and seen at the crane."site notebook — editorial synthesis
Time that doesn't wait
No water in the processes means no chemical waits: the CLT score has no dashed pauses. The risk moves entirely to logistics — crane, deliveries, weather — and to the desk, where mistakes are born.
The flip side: such a fast site does not forgive improvised logistics. An idle crane is CLT's "dead time" — prevented at beat 01, not on site.
The rule that rules
Timber tolerates rain that runs off and dries; it does not tolerate rain that stands. Three points decide everything: the base separated from concrete, horizontal joints that drain, panel ends covered at day's end.
It applies to storage too: panels raised off the ground, spaced, covered yet ventilated — a clinging tarp that condenses is standing water as well.
It burns predictably: solid timber chars at a known rate and the charred layer shields the section's core, which is designed exactly that way. That is why a well-sized CLT wall keeps bearing for a long time even in fire — details and protections matter, as always.
A brief wetting that can dry out is no drama: the enemy is water standing in horizontal joints and panel ends. Hence: fast sequences, sheets at day's end, and an envelope closed early.
For a two-storey house the panels go up in days, not months — the most photogenic phase and the shortest. The real site time stays in foundations before and finishes after.
Almost always yes: the panel alone insulates little. Wood fibre is the natural companion — summer phase shift and vapour permeability in order — and the envelope can close as rendered ETICS or a ventilated facade.
Informational links to the regulatory framework. Always verify the current text on the official source.