Architecture firm Waugh Thistleton Architects, one of Great Britain's leading CLT pioneers, for instance has expressed "disappointment" over this decision. Together with KLH, the practice built the nine-story building "Murray Grove" in London/England: With the improvement of fire safety after the catastrophe in Grenfell Tower, the government has "overreached" legal requirements, according to the architects. Next to cladding materials, the government's policy document also targets structural timber and other combustible external wall systems.
According to an article by the Timber Trades Journal (TTJ), the document explicitly aims at timber constructions higher than 18 m. As a result, the utilization of wood materials in contexts of development would be slowed down in the medium and long term. Waugh Thistleton Architects also called the government's declaration a "misunderstanding" of the fire performance of wood materials.
The architectural practice, however, also emphasized that the government did not suggest a ban on the usage of CLT altogether but an alternative approach to building high residential structures.
