Accoya Against the Elements

James Latham fabricates and supplies bespoke Accoya Vertical Louvre Fins for a new community leisure complex, in Morpeth, Northumberland.

When leading UK contractor, Willmott Dixon, was approached by Advance Northumberland, Northumberland County Council’s economic regeneration arm, to build a low-carbon, state-of-the leisure centre in Morpeth, it knew it would have to think outside the box to deliver on the client’s ambitious brief.

Specifically, the facility’s fabric needed to be weather and climate resistant, due to its coastal location, higher frequency of wind-driven rain, and greater risk of salt corrosion. Simultaneously, the client also stipulated a strict sustainability brief, with the aim of achieving maximum long-term value, financially and environmentally.

This meant the building’s cladding had to perform on a number of different levels, withstanding and adapting to fluctuating climate conditions, whilst providing a low-carbon, long-term, and visually appealing façade.

Accoya as a Solution

From the outset, the project’s low CO2 brief ruled out the extensive use of more carbon-intense cladding materials, such as concrete, glass, or steel. This led them to consider timber as an alternative.

However, the leisure centre’s location presented a challenge. Whilst timber is becoming an increasingly popular choice for sustainable commercial facades, it’s not usually suited to specification in high-precipitation environments like Morpeth. However, a meeting with long-time material partner James Latham would quickly reveal a welcome solution in the form of modified Accoya.

At the forefront of cutting-edge innovation in the construction materials market, James Latham’s team of timber specialists was quick to identify Accoya’s suitability when considered against the project requirements, and it was subsequently selected for the envelope’s wooden louvres.

Accoya’s A-Grade attributes

What made Accoya the perfect choice for the louvres was its exceptional durability and longevity, achieved through the proprietary acetylation process used in its production.

This patented surface-to-core process effectively modifies the cell structure of the wood, enhancing its technical properties to achieve a hard-wearing, weather-resistant timber. With a 60-year service life, it could also deliver the brief’s long-service life criteria.

Willmott Dixon was also impressed by the material’s visual appeal, and they felt its natural timber aesthetic would emphasise the project’s green credentials.

Furthermore, James Latham’s deep understanding of Accoya’s qualities, particularly for façade applications, meant they provided expert consultancy about how to optimise the material’s performance within the wider cladding system.

Expertise in action

The distributor’s involvement didn’t end there, as the conversation revealed that it could also provide fabrication and installation services for the façade features, through its cladding and mouldings subsidiary Latham Timber Manufacturing.

Working both by hand, and with some of the most advanced machining tools available, Latham Timber Manufacturing was able to produce all 605 louvres and have them suppled to site within 8 months.

Its expertise in bespoke timber fabrication, particularly Accoya facades meant they were able to maximise the timber’s potential and minimise waste, delivering added value for the client. Furthermore, working with Latham Timber Manufacturing removed the requirement for a separate third-party fabricator and contractors, meaning this element of the project could be kept under one roof, increasing efficiency, streamlining finances, and reducing admin.

This gave Willmott Dixon even greater confidence in their selection, knowing that it would be correctly handled, fabricated, and installed for a flawless end result.

“Large-scale public-sector projects are challenging as there are many factors to balance. In this case, the project required a comprehensive range of timber and panel products, as well as consultancy on installation and related services. However, once we got in touch with James Latham, their team was able to provide extraordinary expertise and knowledge of the materials needed to achieve the ambitious objectives. From the consultancy, distribution of cladding materials, installation, and maintenance, James Latham and more specifically its Latham Timber Manufacturing division’s ability to provide all of this from a single supplier demonstrated they are a rare example of a distributor which truly offers end-to-end service.”