Multiply: CLT labyrinth explores sustainable housing at London Design Festival

At the 16th edition of the London Design Festival (4–23 September 2018), the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) commissioned architects Waugh & Thistleton and engineers Arup to create Multiply, a 9-meter-high, 43-cubic-meter labyrinth made from cross-laminated tulipwood CLT panels. The installation, first displayed in the Sackler Courtyard of the Victoria and Albert Museum, was later reassembled at New London Architecture (NLA) from 6 to 21 October. Multiply consists of 102 CLT panels forming 17 interconnected modules, bolted with digitally fabricated metal brackets for precision and rapid assembly (five days with a cordless screwdriver). The tulipwood, sourced from fast-growing American forests, is renewable: AHEC's sustainability calculator states the wood used is replaced by natural forest growth in just five minutes. The structure rests on the Sackler Courtyard's ceramic-tiled roof without foundations, demonstrating extreme lightness. Waugh & Thistleton have completed 20 CLT projects, including the Boxpark in Shoreditch. Multiply is AHEC's fourth experiment in structural timber after Timber Wave, Endless Stair, and The Smile, aiming to prove that prefabricated modular design can offer creative freedom and aesthetic value for high-density housing.