Recently completed: Uppingham School

A new £12m Sports Centre at Uppingham School, designed by Architects Orms Architecture Design incorporates structural glulam and X-LAM to good effect. John McRae, Orms' Director commented "Structural timber is one of the most sustainable methods of construction that balances construction and aesthetic requirements to create inspiring architecture".

The Centre, which will be used by the local community as well as providing exceptional facilities for students will sit sensitively within the context of the historic school buildings and town of Uppingham. The design articulates the 50,000 sqft building into three related but distinct volumes allowing each to respond to the surrounding landscape and building pattern.

The architects selected glulam tapered square faced columns as the main frame with X-LAM structural cross-laminated boards in order to achieve an impressive warm and welcoming environment to the swimming pool and fitness suite. The L frames are sculpted to emphasize the structural load paths and create column free space. The structural soffit panels span 4m without any secondary support, providing a ceiling finish and decking for the roof finishes without the need for steel bracing.

The timber panels extend from the inside to the outside of the building creating a shelter along the northern terrace.

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