Flexible Timber Housing: Knowledge Transfer Partnership in collaboration with PLP Architecture Welcome to MORE 2026
Furniture prototypes [© Ron Bakker]
Lead Researcher: Ana Gatóo
KTP Associate: Roberto Lopato Ricorico
Academic Team: Will McLean, Urna Sodnomjamts (UoW), Prof. Michael Ramage (External advisor, Cambridge)
Industry Partners: Ron Bakker (PLP Architecture), Savannah Willits (PLP Architecture)
Funding: Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) grant from Innovate UK (UKRI): £285,137 (2025–2028)
This Knowledge Transfer Partnership project embeds cutting-edge research on bio-based materials and spatial adaptability into the practice of PLP Architecture. At its core is a novel flexible timber partition system developed by Dr Gatóo during her PhD at the University of Cambridge — a digitally fabricated, kerfed timber panel that allows residents to reconfigure their living space over time without structural intervention.
Over 32 months, KTP Associate Roberto Lopato Ricorico will lead the development of a fully integrated modular housing typology, working within PLP Architecture to refine the partition system for commercial application, develop a compatible structural grid, build a bio-based material library, and produce a design guide and commercialisation toolkit. Using engineered timber and other bio-based materials in both structure and interior, the system offers a significantly lower carbon alternative to conventional construction while directly addressing the UK’s housing crisis through adaptable, affordable design. The partition prototype was exhibited at the London Design Biennale 2023, where it won the Public Choice Award.
KEY WORDS: flexible housing; digital fabrication; bio-based materials; regenerative design