London Design Festival. A carbon-negative wooden installation

Multiply, designed by Waugh Thistleton Architects, challenges climate change and proposes a solution for the housing deficit.

In collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP engineers, Waugh Thistleton Architects has built Multiply, a carbon-negative modular installation, in V&A Museum’s Sackler Courtyard. In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

A wooden carbon-negative installation on show at London Design Festival In the context of London Design Festival, the project aims at the creation of a debate around the current challenges represented by climate change and the scarcity of housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects in collaboration with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and ARUP, Multiply, Sackler Courtyard, V&A Museum, London, Unkited Kingdom, 2018. Photo Ed Reeve

The structure consists of 17 interconnected modules made of cross-laminated timber (CLT), with a total height of 9 meters. After the festival, the labyrinthic, almost escherian, installation will be dismantled and re-assembled elsewhere. The innovation consists in the use of tulipwood for the CLT panels, as this type of wood grows fast and abundantly on the East coast of the States. Surprisingly, even if the wood had to be shipped in order to arrive at CSIC – Construction Scotland Innovation Centre – where the final panels have been produced, it maintains a carbon-negative impact on the environment. The installation continues the exploration conducted by ARUP on hardwood CLT, and includes The Timberwave by AL_A, The Smile by Alison Brooks Architects and Endless Stair by dRMM architects.

Multiply in the photographs by Ed Reeve
  • Multiply
  • London
  • installation
  • Waugh Thistleton Architects
  • American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), ARUP
  • 2018
  • Sackler Courtyard, Victoria and Albert Museum
  • 15 September - 1 October 2018