A cross-laminated timber panel (aka 'Crosslam' or 'Xlam') is a method of construction that uses timber to form load-bearing solid timber wall, floor and roof panels. Structural openings, such as doors and windows, are incorporated within the panels. In many cases only insulation and cladding is added to the external face to achieve high standards of thermal performance.
The methodology of layering, stacking and fastening softwood boards to create panels is what differentiates the members of the SWP family. The more common cross-laminated panels are characterised by placing and gluing boards across each other in layers; Another, visually distinctive, technique is to assemble a solid panel through gluing or dowelling together a series of timber ‘posts’.
Panels are commonly fabricated up to around 4m in width and 15m in height, according to technique and manufacturer. The panels can be assembled to create most types of building including housing, which at Murray Grove in London reaches a record nine storeys.
The traditional key advantages of prefabricated components are speed, efficiency and precise tolerances. SWPs tick-off these features and combine them with attractive environmental and energy-efficient attributes such as use of a renewable resource, carbon sequestration, low waste, relatively low embodied energy and an inherent high standard of airtightness.
