Robert Hairstans
Robert Hairstans

Prof Robert Hairstans

Professor

Biography

Professor Robert Hairstans is head of the Centre for Offsite Construction + Innovative Structures (COCIS) within Edinburgh Napier University's Institute for Sustainable Construction, where he leads on research, innovation and knowledge exchange activities designed to deliver construction technologies for tomorrow's communities within a circular economy. His specialist expertise is in the fields of timber engineering and technology with a focus on adding value to the timber supply chain with an emphasis on engineered timber products and offsite (modular) construction.

A major contributor to the 2015 Queens Anniversary Prize for Innovation in Timber Construction and Wood Science Dr Hairstans has published extensively (over 40 peer reviewed published works in journals, books and conference proceedings) including the authorship of three books, one of which has been endorsed by the Royal Institute for British Architects for professional development (the 1st and only publication to receive this commendation). He is recognised as an expert in the field serving on national and international committees as well acting as a reviewer for international journals and grant awarding bodies including EPSRC.

The outputs generated and recognition received is as a result of having a Principle Investigator (PI) track record of over £1M of research (£880k) and commercial projects (£250k) in addition to the provision of Co-Investigator support to a further £0.6M since being employed by Edinburgh Napier University as a lecturer in 2005. Prior to his lecturing role Dr Hairstans was a national award winning Knowledge Transfer Partnership associate employed by ENU working at Oregon Timber Frame in the Scottish Borders.

Professor Hairstans is a Entrepreneurial Scotland Saltire Fellow having been selected by the Scottish Government in 2014 to transform the delivery of Sustainable Housing in Scotland and he is also a Co-Chair of the International Modular and Offsite Construction Summit in collaboration with the University of Alberta (Canada).

Professor Hairstans is also academic lead of Offsite Solutions Scotland a company formed by 10 industry partners in 2016 with a combined manufacturing output of £170million employing more than 1,000. OSS was founded following a successful UKCES project Offsite HUB(Scotland) funded by UKCES and led by Dr Robert Hairstans, culminating in a Cooperative Development Scotland Collaboration Prize.

In addition to international conferences Dr Hairstans has delivered Continual Professional Development on behalf of the professional institutions and chaired sessions at high profile industry and academic events as well as being invited to international universities ranked globally in the top 10.

Most recently Professor Hairstans has established the Built Environment Exchange (www.napier.ac.uk/beX) in collaboration with international university partners in USA, Canada and Europe. BeX is a platform approach to accelerating change in construction culture developing dynamic talent and delivering experiential learning opportunities. Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) have engaged with beX via a collaborative learning week “Sustainable Communities Pre-manufactured from Wood”. BeX was awarded Outstanding Employer Engagement in Universities at the Herald Higher Education Awards 2018.

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Timber in Construction Policy Roadmap Working Group - Terms of Reference
  • Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) Innovation Champion
  • Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) Advanced Construction Technical Advisory Group (TAG) member
  • Forest and Timber Technologies Industry Leadership Group
  • Build Offsite academic member and representation for Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) Offsite HUB
  • Scottish Government Research into Mainstreaming Offsite Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) in House Building
  • Forest and Engineering Group

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Built Environment Smarter Transformation - Green Skills Award
  • Built Environment - Smarter Transformation Beacon Award
  • CEED Best Practice Sharing Award
  • Built Environment Exchange (beX) - Outstanding Employer Engagement in Universities
  • Department of Trade & Industry (now Business Innovation and Skills) UK National Award for Excellence in Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)
  • Saltire Fellowship
  • Queens Anniversary Prize, Innovation in Timber Construction and Wood Science. COCIS was a major contributor to the award given work in timber offsite and MMC including CLT commercialisation work, timber engineering software development to European Codes o

 

Visiting Positions

  • Director of the Centre for Advanced Timber Technology
  • Harvard GDS Visiting Academic

 

Date


78 results

Developing modern construction professionals with a focus on timber – a UK case study

Journal Article
Hitt, S. J., Hairstans, R., Oloke, D., Bertasso, S., Tamagnone, G., & Shirley, B. (2025)
Developing modern construction professionals with a focus on timber – a UK case study. Proceedings of the ICE - Management, Procurement and Law, 178(1), 32-40. https://doi.org/10.1680/jmapl.24.00040
The Centre for Advanced Timber Technology (CATT) was established in 2021 at the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) in Hereford, UK, to be a catalyst fo...

Local resources inform design mid-point results from the Building from England's Woodlands project

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Tamagnone, G., Charleson, F., Cramer, M., Seminara, P., Plowas, W., Ridley-Ellis, D., & Hairstans, R. (2024, August)
Local resources inform design mid-point results from the Building from England's Woodlands project. Presented at International SEEDS Conference 2024, Leeds Beckett University, UK
Considering the energy consumption and carbon equivalent emission of the construction industry, a massive shift towards more sustainable and less carbon intensive materials an...

Establishing A Timber-Focused Competency Framework To Up- And Re-Skill Built Environment Professionals To Meet Sustainability Goals Sustainability Goals

Conference Proceeding
Hitt, S. J., Hairstans, R., & Connell-Skinner, K. (2023)
Establishing A Timber-Focused Competency Framework To Up- And Re-Skill Built Environment Professionals To Meet Sustainability Goals Sustainability Goals. In 51st Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) 2023. https://doi.org/10.21427/ZRXR-PT93
Engineers equipped with skills for a sustainable built environment have never been more critical, as government and industry sustainability goals such as the 2050 net zero tar...

Transforming Timber

Digital Artefact
Hairstans, R., Plowas, W., Livingstone, A., Connell-Skinner, K., Cramer, M., Ridley-Ellis, D., & Seminara, P. Transforming Timber. [Website content]

)
Hairstans, R., Plowas, W., Livingstone, A., Connell-Skinner, K., Cramer, M., Ridley-Ellis, D., & Seminara, P. Transforming Timber. [Website content]
The construction materials used since the industrial revolution now dominate the sector. This is one of the leading causes of our current climate crisis. We need alternative s...

Modern Methods and Offsite Timber Construction

Other
Hairstans, R. (2023)
Modern Methods and Offsite Timber Construction
Build Modern methods of construction focus on offsite construction techniques, including factory production and pre-assembly of components, to build faster and more efficientl...

Theorising a new educational agenda for sustainable built environment professionals: timber technology, engineering, and design

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Al-Attili, A., Hairstans, R., Belden, T., Tamagnone, G., Hitt, S., Binding, T., & Walters, J. (2023, June)
Theorising a new educational agenda for sustainable built environment professionals: timber technology, engineering, and design. Presented at World Conference on Timber Engineering 2023, Oslo, Norway
The paper reports on the most recent activities undertaken on the local and national levels to create a competency framework for timber engineering in an effort to change the ...

The New Centre for Advanced Timber Technology: A Living Lab for Designers, Industry and Education

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Tamagnone, G., & Hairstans, R. (2023, June)
The New Centre for Advanced Timber Technology: A Living Lab for Designers, Industry and Education. Presented at World Conference on Timber Engineering 2023, Oslo, Norway
To meet the net zero requirements, UK industry will need to change how it operates, relying on more sustainable resources and practices. Within this scheme, the construction i...

Manufacturing A Biogenic Built Environment

Book Chapter
Hairstans, R. Manufacturing A Biogenic Built Environment. In Timber Industry Yearbook 2022 (77-81)
Buckinghamshire: BM TRADA
Robert Hairstans discusses the Biogenic Built Environment Framework: collaborative projects where research, innovation, commercialisation and education work in concert.

Offsite Ready Booklets

Report
Duncheva, M., Calcagno, C., Henquel, V., Leitch, K., Stinson, J., Plant O'Toole, E., …Ferriz-Papi, J. A. (2020)
Offsite Ready Booklets. Edinburgh: Construction Industry Training Board

Refocusing modern methods of construction on the climate emergency: a 'five capitals' model for action

Journal Article
Campbell, A., Hairstans, R., & Jones, G. (2020)
Refocusing modern methods of construction on the climate emergency: a 'five capitals' model for action. The structural engineer : journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers, 98(9), 22-28
Adrian Campbell, Robert Hairstans and Giulia Jones explain how natural, human, social, manufactured and economic capital can all benefit from a sustainability-focused approach...

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects