CASE STUDY LOCKERBIE VISITOR BUILDING
Showcasing Structural Timber James Jones & Sons have completed a new visitor building at its flagship Lockerbie site – the largest single site sawmill complex in the UK and the most technically advanced – and used several of its own timber products.
T
he brief for the building
and the conference space above. A simple,
was part functional and part
unheated, glass link building connects the
aspirational. At a functional
new building to the old office. The first floor
level, there was a requirement
is raised to give panoramic views across the
to provide office accommodation for up to
timber yard and over the constant stream of
10 staff, a meeting room capable of holding
unprocessed logs to the mill, which is directly
up to 30 people theatre style, with the
below this space.
flexibility to hold classroom sessions and
The walls are formed with an innovative
industry meetings and a smaller meeting
double-leafed, offset structure, using James
room, kitchen facilities and a reception area
Jones & Sons proprietary timber JJI joists, to
for visitors.
minimise cold bridges. These extra thick walls,
The building obviously needed a high
at 430mm deep, allowed sufficient depth
timber content, using as much James Jones’s
to use environmentally friendly insulation
product as possible. It had to provide a view
with excellent thermal performance. It also
across the Lockerbie site allowing visitors the
facilitated a deeper articulation of window
renewable source of heating and summer
opportunity to see the sawmill in operation
reveals in an area of Scotland known for its high
cooling to the building. The various vents
with a low carbon footprint, low energy
rainfall.
and ducts for this system, the bathrooms
heating and ventilation system and high levels
Douglas fir has been extensively used in
and kitchen are carefully expressed in the
of insulation. The design ethos was to be stylish
the interior for its stability and characteristic
timber cladding on the south elevation.
and striking, but at the same time thoughtful
pink hue. The pitched roofs feature closely
Electric car charging further demonstrates the
and not grandiose. James Jones & Sons held a
centred and very narrow Douglas fir rafters,
company’s commitment to its inherently green
design competition between two architectural
160mm deep by 25mm wide that bring rhythm
credentials.
firms and the winning team was Konishi
and warmth to the spaces. This pattern is
Gaffney from Edinburgh, led by Kieran Gaffney.
echoed in the overclad reception wall and the
building,” said Rob MacKenna, General
balustrade to the staircase, top lit by the full
Manager of the Lockerbie site. “The striking
length rooflight above.
design and innovative use of solid and
The completed building’s structure acts as a demonstration project, almost entirely erected from James Jones & Sons own
Externally Scottish larch was specified
“We are really pleased with the new
engineered timber products are a great
products with an approach to minimising
with black stained, narrow, vertical cladding on
example of how timber can be used to deliver
the use of steel and maximising timber.
the lower storey of the building. Above this,
high quality office and meeting areas. The
Loadbearing glulam beams were used
the horizontal larch cladding is finished with a
main meeting room has been positioned to
throughout the building, while an unprocessed
water-based silicate treatment that preserves
achieve a stunning view across the Stevens
tree trunk provides loadbearing support to the
the timber while accelerating and evening out
Croft site, enabling visitors to view part of our
backbone of the building – a nod to the timber
the weathering.
operations from the comfort of this space. We
Taking all the timber elements into
processing cycle.
look forward to a time when we can welcome
account, the building fabric has almost 40
back groups of visitors and host them in this
pitched volumes: a single storey office wing to
CO2TE within it. The building’s environmental
fantastic new facility.”
the north and a two-storey volume to the south
agenda goes beyond the extensive use of
which houses the reception, meeting rooms
timber: an air source heat pump provides a
The building takes the form of two offset
Timber Construction Magazine
Summer 2021
18
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