Blog

Only three and a half years ago Lend Lease were first discussing CLT, now they have the world's tallest modern timber multi-residential building. What technology might we be talking out in the next three or five years? This fairly dry (i.e. no exciting pictures) but nonetheless interesting report ranks some of the options.

With the softening global price for wood chips, people are looking for other uses for plantation grown eucalypts, unsuitable for traditional sawn timber production. Hardlam is one solution to this problem - and it has the added advantage of being a great looking, environmentally advantaged product!

There's a sense of momentum behind CLT that will hopefully flow through to other engineered wood building systems and composite possibilities. The UK's Economist is prestigious magazine with a broad global readership of senior managers and decision makers.

Sometimes good ideas originate while you’re actually aiming to do something else – as was the case with Architecture of Necessity. The idea originated as Sweden’s Virserum Art Museum developed their WOOD 2010 exhibition. If you think it’s worth supporting, click through the link at the end of the article.

There's nothing quite as inspiring as seeing great design and execution - and when it's in wood it's even more inspirational! The Australian Timber Design Awards (ATDA) showcase the best of the best - and winners go on to contest international awards too. If you can make it to Sydney for the Awards dinner it's sure to be a great night.

It's unusual to have the wood and wood products industry in the public eye with a good news storey, but this items from ABC Melbourne's weekend news is one more communication to lift the awareness of wood in construction.

With spring around the corner it's time to think about summer plans - why not treat yourself to an enjoyable, informative and inspirational experience in Launceston at the Centre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood? Details of the two courses are below.

Bluewater is a 'shopping destination' in Kent in the UK. Visited by some 500,000 people a week, it's more like a town than a shopping centre. As part of a strategy to increase the duration of vistors' stays, a hotel with leading edge environmental credentials was commissioned by developers Lendlease.

Just when designers and engineers are coming to grips with the exciting potential of cross laminated timber (CLT) along comes another flavor of the material, interlocking CLT or ICLT, that plans to use no fasteners or adhesives.

Designed to be used only during the London Olympics, this McDonalds store at Olympic Park is not only their largest store, but also the shortest lived.

Now in their 13th year, the Australian Timber Design Awards have been honouring excellence in timber design for thirteen years. Entry is open to architects, builders, designers, engineers, interior designers and landscape architects. Categories cover all major applications, small budget projects, sustainability, a People's Choice Award and a Rising Star Award. This year's entries will automatically be considered for the 2013 International Timber Design Awards.

American hardwoods offer a wide range of species, primarily used for interior applications. This is an opportunity to familiarise yourself with what's available and aks an expert any questions you may have.

Inspirational design seems to have an affinity with structures performing a religious role and Bigelow Chapel in Minnesota is no exception.

As the world transitions to a lower carbon economy, materials, practices and processes in commercial design and construction will reflect changing values and priorities. What these will be is an interesting and potentially vital question. Described as 'Australia's only eco event for the complete commercial construction industry' Future Build provides glimpses of what may unfold.

Focused on residential design, the Houses Awards are presented by Architectural Media, publishers of a wide range of titles relating to architecture and design. WoodSolutions sponsored the Outdoor Category.

WoodSolutions were proud to be a sponsor of the annual BDAV 2012 Building Design Awards. The standard of the entries was high - and a flick through the online ebook at their website is highly recommended.

Described by its architects, Melling:Morse as "A two bedroom house on a tiny, wedge-shaped section separating the harbour view and it’s street frontage," The Wedge was a NZ Home of the year finalist in 2006 and awarded a Residential Architectural Excellence Award in 2006 Timber Design Australasia

A much awarded project, the Savill Building - the visitor centre at the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park - has weathered gracefully, integrating, as planned, into the landscape.

Wind power is renewable and more sustainable than fossil fuel generated power - however, it still has a significant carbon footprint owing to the materials used during the fabrication and erection of the turbine. Making a 100m tower from wood is one way of reducing that footprint....

The World Conference on Timber Engineering (or WCTE as it's more conveniently referred to) begins the formal parts of the program in Auckland, NZ, on Monday July 16. The program for the day is listed below and you should be able to discover more about individual presentations by clicking through the embedded links. An event sponsor, WoodSolutions has aso sponsored a group of 15 engineering students from a wide range of Australian tertiary institutions to attend WCTE. There's a fascinating program and a range of abstracts with a topics to interest anyone concerned with design and building with timber. We'll be posting some of the highlights and interesting pieces here - but to keep in touch, please check out our Facebook page, linked below.

Occasionally last minute opportunities become available and we are delighted to be able to offer them to you. This one-off Q&A seminar, presented by Professor Motoi Yasumura, Shizuoka University, Japan, is titled, "The Japanese experience related to environmentally friendly, earthquake resistant timber construction". Don't be put off by the reference to earthquakes, there's a lot of content that's relevant to Melbourne too.

Every now and then a new product redefines the way things are made, or creates new possibilities for existing materials. UPM Grada, which looks just like ordinary plywood, but is easier to shape may be such a product.

300+ presentations from 36 countries, 450 abstracts, 3 days at the 9th World Conference on Timber Engineering in New Zealand. This is a must attend event for engineers, architects, building designers and other design and build professionals interested in wood and wood products.

The WoodSolutions Advanced Timber Building Systems Seminar included a visit to Forte, Lendlease's new CLT building in Melbourne's Docklands. Planet Ark's Chris Philpot attended wearing his Make It Wood hat and here are his notes and pics.