A few key facts and figures on the carpentry construction of the gridshell roof:
- The Gridshell roof is 98 metres long, spans 24 metres at its widest point, and rises 10 metres to the top of the central dome. It is the largest timber gridshell in the UK.
- The structural timber was European larch, extracted from managed plantations in the Windsor forest, which is FSC certified and SSSI.
- 10,000 finger joints and 1,000 scarf joints comprise the structural jointing.
- The structural skin of birch plywood fixed over the grid, which creates the shell covers 1600 square metres, or one quarter of a football pitch.
- Oak from The Crown Estate’s Windsor forest was used for the flooring inside the building and the rain screen, which creates the final layer over the roof.
- A specially trained team of up to 20 carpenters worked on the roof structure for a continuous period of 12 months, and consumed 7,500 cups of tea.
A souvenir book following the building's construction is currently available from The Savill Building shop, price £4.95.
