A new research project led by BE-ST and the University of Edinburgh has provided one of the clearest pictures yet of how stakeholders view fire safety in mass timber buildings and what needs to happen next to unlock wider adoption.

The UK needs 300,000 new homes every year. Timber is widely seen as one of the most promising materials to help meet that target; it’s renewable, lightweight, stores carbon, and increasingly competitive for off-site manufacturing.

Meet our newest team member - Ketty Lawrence, who will be joining BE-ST over the next 12 months as Associate Director of Stakeholder Engagement. We’ve asked her some quick-fire questions in a '60 Seconds With' spotlight to help get to know her a little better.

Hugo Taillandier has spent a decade working in construction, on site and in factories with some of the UK's leading timber specialists. Trained in architectural technology and mechanical engineering, and now leading training programmes at BE-ST, he is one of the key people delivering the upcoming Timber in Construction Skills initiative. Here, he makes the case for why it matters and why now is the time to act.

Matthew Clubb is an Aberdeen-based director of mwclubb, a practice specialising in low-energy architecture and the retrofit of existing buildings. A former oil and gas engineer, Clubb transitioned into architecture after a personal journey into climate science that left him shocked by the severity of the climate crisis.

Lothian Heat is a new regional organisation exploring how large-scale heat networks could be delivered differently in the East of Scotland. Its core proposition is straightforward but ambitious: capture waste heat that is currently being thrown away, move it to where demand is highest, and deliver it at the lowest possible cost with community ownership embedded over the long term.

Construction and demolition produce nearly half of Scotland’s waste, and much of that arises not out of necessity, but due to underuse of reuse opportunities. Zero Waste Scotland is tackling these issues, pushing for a shift from linear “take, make, waste” models to a circular, resource-efficient built environment.

Kier is helping redefine the future of housing decarbonisation in Scotland. Its work at Prospecthill Court in Greenock has become a national exemplar, demonstrating genuine ambition to set new standards for energy efficiency, stakeholder collaboration, and social value.

In response to the climate emergency, Cheshire East Council commissioned Purcell to lead the retrofit of a series of Grade II listed railway cottages in Crewe. These Victorian homes, constructed between 1848 and 1858 for railway workers, are deeply embedded in the town’s industrial heritage and architectural identity.