The Sustainable Choice for BCL’s Timber Slat Panels

The new Life Sciences Building at the University of Southampton, known as Building 85, has been designed with the purpose of being the University’s flagship building, creating a world-leading research and learning centre in the field of Biological & Medical Science and is the first project in the UK to utilise BCL’s bamboo acoustic timber panel system to create wooden slatted walls that deliver warmth and acoustic absorption to the central library space.

As with every BCL timber slat panel system, NBBJ & BAM had complete design control over the species, treatments & dimensions of timber used on the panels. After a rigorous selection process, Bamboo was chosen as the clear winner over other competing species for its fantastic combination of quality, sustainability, durability and low cost.

BCL provided a full design service to NBBJ, and all bamboo was finished in an FR lacquer to upgrade the wooden panels to Class 0 as per performance requirements.