New Model Building

An innovative approach to building multi-storey mass timber housing, pre-assessed by a UK warranty provider.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with expert fire engineers at University College London, structural engineers at Buro Happold and cost consultancy from Gardiner & Theobald has developed the New Model Building as a set of design principles and guidance for multistorey residential mass timber building in the UK, that have been pre-assessed by the national warranty provider NHBC.

After a meticulous pre-assessment process by the national warranty provider, NHBC, the NMB provides a reference for organisations wanting to use mass timber for multistorey housing up to 18m, or 6 storeys. A suite of open-source easy-to-use documents produced by Waugh Thistleton explain the design principles and details of the New Model Building. The documents include:

• An overview Guide describes why we need the New Model Building and what it includes.
• A Detail handbook describes the technical standards on which the New Model Building is predicated, and contains a suite of details, checklists and performance specifications which describe how to design using the New Model Building principles.
• The Evidence book contains all the pre-assessed documents submitted to NHBC by Waugh Thistleton Architects, UCL and Buro Happold.

As an invaluable and comprehensive suite of information, the New Model Building provides clarity and confidence among a diverse spectrum of stakeholders, such as designers, developers, housing providers, local authorities, insurers and investors, providing with the knowledge and know-how to seamlessly incorporate mass timber into multistorey residential projects.

The three books are available to download below, or from our Knowledge page.

Credit Featured Image: Waugh Thistleton Architects