Accelerate to Zero Beacon: Robert Hairstans, Edinburgh Napier University & NMITE
Robert has been a leading figure in timber innovation and off-site construction throughout his career which spans both academia and industry.
He has a dual role as both Director of the Centre for Advanced Timber Technology at the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) and Professor of Offsite Construction and Innovative Structures at Edinburgh Napier University. Most recently Robert has taken on the role as lead for EDI, Skills and Training in the Centre for Net Zero High Density Buildings, a UKRI funded Green Economy Centre hosted by the University of Edinburgh.
His commitment to bringing academia and industry together has significantly advanced research in timber innovation and its applications in the construction industry and skills development. In 2023, this dedication was recognised with a Beacon Award at the BE-ST Accelerate to Zero Awards to recognise his contributions to the built environment and his strong support of BE-ST over the years. In 2024 he was also awarded the Structural Timber Pioneer Award and the Offsite Pioneer Award.
CEO of BE-ST, Stephen Good, said that Robert was awarded the Beacon Award for being “a major contributor and collaborator for truly impactful research and innovation.”
Early academic-industry collaboration
Robert’s journey into timber construction began with his first job at Oregon Timber Frame in the Scottish Borders. Through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), he worked as a research engineer while pursuing his PhD at Edinburgh Napier University in the optimisation of timber platform frame construction. This experience of simultaneously undertaking academic research and industry practice laid the foundation for his approach to integrating innovation with real-world applications throughout his career.
Recognising the value of the KTP model, Robert has continued to champion similar industry-academia partnerships. His work with BE-ST mirrors this through various collaborations lead by Robert between BE-ST, ENU and more recently NMITE to drive research and innovation in collaboration with industry partners while mentoring new talent to accelerate their careers.
Proving the potential of Scottish wood
Robert has been at the forefront of demonstrating the feasibility of Scottish timber for construction much of which has been recently accelerated via the BE-ST-led Transforming Timber project – a collaborative knowledge hub promoting the use of homegrown engineering and mass timber.
Historically, Scottish timber was dismissed as being only suitable for lower-grade applications such as fencing and pallets. However, Robert’s research alongside Transforming Timber has challenged this perception.
“We were constantly facing this uphill battle of the perception that Scottish timber is low grade, not usable, has poor dimensional tolerance and is unsuitable for modern methods of construction. But we’ve proven that’s simply not true.”
Through collaboration with forestry experts, sawmillers, and researchers, the project has successfully demonstrated that Scottish-grown timber can meet the necessary strength classifications and be used in mass timber products like cross-laminated timber (CLT). The success of this work has led to the commercialisation of UK mass timber, proving that a homegrown, sustainable timber supply chain is possible.
According to Robert, this use of timber has the potential to be a game-changer for both the construction and forestry industries. It helps to reduce carbon emissions by increasing the use of locally sourced timber, it creates jobs and economic growth within Scotland’s forestry sector and enhances sustainability by using a renewable, low-carbon material in construction.
Developing timber skills through Timber TED
One of NMITE’s collaborative initiatives with BE-ST has been the Timber Technology Engineering Design (Timber TED) courses.
These came about when Robert and his team identified a critical gap in skills and knowledge for timber construction professionals, leading to the development of a competency framework in partnership with key industry bodies such as Timber Development UK and the Structural Timber Association with funding support from the Housing Construction and Infrastructure Skills Gateway.
The TED 1 and TED 2 courses were designed to introduce timber technologies, sustainability principles, and practical design challenges to learners. TED 1 focuses on foundational concepts, while TED 2 builds on knowledge gained in the first course with more advanced timber construction and engineering principles.
The learners on these courses came for diverse backgrounds at different stages of their careers, something which is important to Robert as it provided an opportunity for the learners to learn from each other as well as the academic team and industry partners. Student cohorts consisted of architects, architectural technologists, engineers and pre-construction managers from the length and breadth of the country.
“Timber TED provides some of the key learning for the use of timber technologies in construction - looking at why timber is a material choice, what you have to think about in terms of utilisation, what that looks like in terms of delivery, and how you take that and apply it into practical design challenges.”
As the sector evolves, Robert sees an urgent need to expand the portfolio of training programmes like Timber TED to meet growing industry demands.
The importance of collaboration in the built environment
Robert firmly believes that collaboration is critical to the future of construction and the built environment. He highlights the importance of cross-sector collaboration in research and policy development.
“When you think of the supply chain, vertically and horizontally, all of the actors in play - you can only get to a point of success if there’s collaboration, trust, and partnership through that process.”
Robert sees collaborative procurement models and whole-life value approaches as the future of low carbon construction, ensuring that projects are not just delivered efficiently but perform optimally throughout their lifecycle.
Advice for young professionals
For those interested in entering the field, Robert encourages seeing construction as a profession of the future. He wants to shift perceptions and attract individuals who are passionate about tackling climate challenges.
“Construction as a career has so many opportunities within it and shouldn’t be viewed as something you do if you can’t do something else. It should be up there with professions like medicine and law in terms of what you can achieve for society.”
He highlights the growing need for holistic knowledge and interdisciplinary skills, emphasising sustainability, embodied carbon, digital tools, and industrialised construction techniques. Future professionals will need to understand embodied carbon and whole-life performance of buildings, digital skills, interoperability, digital twins, manufacturing and off-site construction methods.
Robert also stresses that innovation in construction must be paired with new skills and educational programs.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done through research and innovation, but we must underpin that with the education and skills necessary to deliver that change.”
The future of timber construction and policy roadmaps
Looking ahead, Robert and his team are focused on aligning their research with the Timber in Construction Roadmap. Their priorities include scaling up the use of timber in construction to support net zero targets, addressing supply chain challenges and adapting to climate change impacts on forestry and furthering research into innovative timber products and their accreditation for widespread use.
Robert’s work demonstrates that timber has a vital role in the future of low carbon construction. Through a combination of research, education, industry partnerships, and policy engagement, he is pushing boundaries and driving systemic change.
His Beacon Award recognition is a testament to his impact, but for Robert, the real success will come when timber is fully integrated into mainstream construction, delivering low-carbon, high-performance buildings that benefit both people and the planet.
“There’s a lot more to do, but we’ve built a strong foundation. Now it’s time to scale it up.”