Sydenhams Timber Engineering

Description of the Sydenham Timber Engineering Timber Frame Building System

Sydenham Timber Engineering Ltd is a Timber engineering company offering high quality prefabricated closed panel timber frame buildings to the construction industry. The building are supplied as a panelised system. The panels are manufactured at their factory before being loaded onto standard Lorries and transported to sites though-out, the UK and erected. They provide closed panel internal and external load bearing walls along with engineered floors and prefabricated roof trusses.

External wall panels consist of 140mm x 38mm treated timber studs to structural engineer’s design with 9mm OSB sheathing boards or A1/A2 rated boards clad externally with breather membrane and some form of cladding system, depending on the site specific requirement and subject to local planning requirements. Insulation is friction fitted between the studs in the factory or on site. Where openings are required in the panels, these are accommodated as required with any additional lintels being incorporated.

On completion of the structural frame the roof is fitted and is site specific. The roof can be either a flat roof or engineered truss or typical rafter system depending on local authority planning. Externally the walls are clad with either masonry or some form of cladding which is site specific.

Pitched roofs are formed using engineered timber trusses at a maximum of 600mm centres as a cold roof, typically with 400mm Rockwool (or similar) insulation. A vapour control layer is fitted to the underside of the trusses before lining the ceilings with plasterboard.

Intermediate floors consist of metal web joists with acoustic insulation and plasterboard and project specific floor deck.

Floor cassettes are supported by the load bearing walls, again resisting the cumulative axial loads down to foundation level. Overall stability of the structure below the roof level is dependent on the floor construction transferring horizontal loads to the shear walls.

Durability Assessment – Minimum of 60 Years

Limits of scope

• minimum 5 storeys for residential and public use;
• Bottom members minimum 150mm above external ground level;
• Occupational use purpose groups Residential (Low Rise housing) Residential (Medium Rise housing), Hotel/ Hostel Below 18m, Shop, Resturants, Hospital care home below 18m
• Adequate sub-floor ventilation must be maintained to the void below the ground floor this is site specific
• Ground below ground module floor must be sealed to limit moisture within the void, e.g., sand covering.
• Sheathing board used in the construction must be third party approved for the proposed use (e.g., BBA, KIWA, ETA). All fixings to the supporting structure must be stainless or hardened steel. Relative Humidity in the cavity behind the wall cladding must not exceed 85% for extended periods.
• Sydenham timber Engineering Ltd must be contracted for the design, manufacture, supply
• A chartered structural engineer suitably experienced in the design of this type of structure must be sub- contracted for the structural analysis and design.
• Masonry wall cladding cavities should be minimum 50mm and ventilated.
• Conventional cladding, such as timber cladding, should have a minimum 38mm drained back-cavity, or as recommended by the manufacturer.
• Rendered external thermal insulation systems and/or insulated brick slip cladding systems applied to timber frame structures must have a minimum 38mm drained back-cavity.