BE-ST (Built Environment – Smarter Transformation) has officially relaunched its Innovation Campus by welcoming stakeholders to see the newly equipped Mass Timber Centre of Excellence and Scotland’s newly retrofitted National Retrofit Centre.
The event, held at BE-ST’s Innovation Campus in Hamilton, marked the first event in the BE-ST Fest 2025 Fringe Festival and brought together industry leaders, academics, policymakers, and innovators to showcase the campus’s new facilities, explore opportunities for collaboration, and mark the start of the next chapter for BE-ST.
Supported by Scottish Funding Council and host institution Edinburgh Napier University, the Mass Timber Centre of Excellence now houses £1.5 million pounds of newly acquired mass timber post-processing equipment and fully integrated extraction system. This will complement existing capabilities and further enhance production capacity, precision finishing, and health and safety processes, BE-ST said.
The centre provides the UK construction sector with access to advanced timber manufacturing capabilities, including the largest commercially available CNC machine in the UK and full-scale production of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Nail Laminated Timber (NLT), and Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam). The facility will be capable of an annual output of around 8,000m³ when operated at full capacity, on a single shift.
BE-ST added that it will play a ‘pivotal’ role in strengthening local supply chains, creating jobs, and reducing carbon emissions by accelerating the adoption of UK-grown mass timber solutions. With the UK currently importing around 73,000m³ of mass timber each year, the Centre aims to unlock significant economic, environmental, and social benefits by onshoring the production and use of mass timber products to Scotland.
BE-ST also celebrated the reopening of Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre (SNRC), a facility dedicated to scaling retrofit solutions and skills across the UK, following the completion of the centre’s own deep retrofit. The retrofit project was delivered by Clark Contracts and part-funded through Phase 1 of Scotland’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund. Edinburgh Napier University, administrator of BE-ST, was awarded £1.2 million through the fund, which is delivered by Salix on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Now open, the SNRC is designed to support the construction sector to tackle the pressing challenge of retrofitting existing buildings to reduce energy demand, lower emissions, and improve the quality, comfort, and performance of buildings in the UK. It provides a space for hands-on training, demonstration of retrofit technologies, and collaboration between academia, industry and government and public sector clients.
Together, the two facilities are positioned to address some of the most urgent challenges facing the UK – the climate emergency, the housing crisis, rising energy costs, and the need to deliver high-quality, sustainable homes and buildings at scale, while also creating new economic and skills opportunities for Scotland’s built environment and construction supply chain.
Stephen Good, CEO of BE-ST, said, “Today marked the official opening of our two new buildings – the Mass Timber Centre of Excellence and Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre – which are designed to give our sector the tools, expertise, and space it needs to overcome barriers and respond to a number of key challenges, including skills gaps and housing and climate crises. Through these facilities, BE-ST will continue to support innovation, collaboration and skills development that will drive economic growth, improve delivery of the built environment, and benefit communities across Scotland and the wider UK.”
Sam Hart, associate director of manufacturing and housing at BE-ST, added, “The Mass Timber Centre of Excellence opens up huge opportunities for the construction sector. By investing in mass timber, we are not just advancing low carbon approaches to construction, we are also investing in economic growth, creating jobs, and providing solutions to some key challenges facing the built environment sector.”
Caitriona Jordan, associate director of retrofit and energy efficiency, commented, “Scotland’s National Retrofit Centre is the hub for developing retrofit skills and knowledge, both through hands-on training and by serving as a living case study. Our mission is to coordinate and support Scotland’s journey to decarbonise its existing buildings.
“Retrofitting to achieve zero-carbon outcomes is never simple, but the lessons we’ve gained through this process are invaluable. Now, we’re opening our doors to the sector, inviting partners, practitioners, and innovators to join us in the mission to retrofit the UK’s existing buildings.”
