Post Archive

Featured image for “BRANZ article on barriers to growth of EWP in New Zealand”

BRANZ article on barriers to growth of EWP in New Zealand

BRANZ survey into EWP use – If using more timber in buildings and creating larger timber buildings is a potential way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering more carbon,...

Featured image for “Canada exports wood design services to Korea”

Canada exports wood design services to Korea

WoodWorks Office software, developed by Canadian Wood Council allows structural engineers to quickly design light-frame or heavy timber construction based on the latest codes and standards. Upon completion of the...

Featured image for “Thinkwood: Continuing education inspiration. Architecting Change”

Thinkwood: Continuing education inspiration. Architecting Change

Design Strategies for a Healthy, Resilient, Climate Smart Future – Over the past decade, the architectural, construction and engineering (AEC) sector has grappled with unprecedented technological and socioeconomic changes along...

Featured image for “Wood design features in local government building in Ballarat, Vic”

Wood design features in local government building in Ballarat, Vic

Ballarat GovHub was officially opened on April 21. Partner Stefan Mee from John Wardle Architects writes about the project’s aspirations and reflects on how the design engages with its context...

Featured image for “Strong crowds for Open Days at Sustainable New Apartments”

Strong crowds for Open Days at Sustainable New Apartments

New Zealand’s first mass timber demonstration building is now under construction in Christchurch at 50 Rotoiti Lane in Clearwater, Northwood, Christchurch. Two open days for industry professionals were held last...

Featured image for “This will be the largest CLT affordable housing complex in the Netherlands”

This will be the largest CLT affordable housing complex in the Netherlands

Rotterdam-based architecture office Powerhouse Company has unveiled designs for Valckensteyn, a circular and sustainable building expected to become the largest timber-built affordable housing complex in the Netherlands. Commissioned by housing...

Featured image for “The technology of the trees”

The technology of the trees

Chris Barton finds at Scion’s Innovation Hub, Te Whare Nui o Tuteata, in Rotorua – by RTA Studio, in collaboration with Irving Smith Architects – a showcase of radically new...

Featured image for “NZ’s Timber Shortage – Help On The Way”

NZ’s Timber Shortage – Help On The Way

The opening of a new wood processing plant in Rotorua in a few weeks will help alleviate New Zealand’s timber shortage, say Red Stag group CEO, Marty Verry. The plant,...

Featured image for “Berlin’s New Timber Tower Comes With Lofty Ambitions”

Berlin’s New Timber Tower Comes With Lofty Ambitions

A skyscraper that would be Europe’s tallest wooden building promises a “social and ecological paradigm shift” in a gentrifying neighborhood — and a test for the city’s affordable housing model....

Featured image for “Case Study: Hutt Valley Health Hub”

Case Study: Hutt Valley Health Hub

Our Challenge For this project, New Zealand’s most earthquake resilient health centre was to be built. Designed to withstand a one in 2500-year earthquake, the Hutt Valley Health Hub needed...

Featured image for “SCGZero+”

SCGZero+

About The SCGZero+ project is designed to be the first “5Zero” office building – Zero carbon, Zero energy, Zero water, Zero waste, and Zero formaldehyde that houses 400+ staff in...

Featured image for “Glulam on the BIG Stage – Our Longest Beams Ever!”

Glulam on the BIG Stage – Our Longest Beams Ever!

University of Waikato, The Pā – TimberLab Project Update March 2021 CREDITS: Client: The University of Waikato / Project Manager: Greenstone Group /Architect: Architectus & Jasmax / Engineer: Beca / Constructor:...

Featured image for “Building Carbon Calculator”

Building Carbon Calculator

Engineered timber products such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) and Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam) are some of the most exciting building materials we’ve seen in over...

Featured image for “Tianfu Agriculture Expo”

Tianfu Agriculture Expo

Canadian wood manufacturers are delivering on decades of Government-established groundwork in Asia. While New Zealand’s focus is on logs, the synergy of Government officials, locally-knowledge timber standards experts in Asia...

Featured image for “Nashville’s First Large-scale Mass Timber Project”

Nashville’s First Large-scale Mass Timber Project

Nashville is getting its first large-scale mass timber structure in the form of two office buildings, up to 5 storeys tall, as part of a larger mixed use development. A...

Featured image for “UBC planning $315 million facility expansion of medical research and nursing schools”

UBC planning $315 million facility expansion of medical research and nursing schools

Another wave of major construction is planned for the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Point Grey campus, with the key projects creating new health sciences facilities located at the main...

Featured image for “Japan developing wooden satellites to cut space junk”

Japan developing wooden satellites to cut space junk

A Japanese company and Kyoto University have joined forces to develop what they hope will be the world’s first satellites made out of wood by 2023. Sumitomo Forestry said it...

Featured image for “Red Stag celebrates first CLT job from Rotorua plant”

Red Stag celebrates first CLT job from Rotorua plant

Following their presentation about local manufacture of CLT, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Red Stag Wood Solutions team, alongside Advantage Construction celebrated their first installation of panels from...

Featured image for “Report Shows Impact Of COVID-19 Is Likely To Be Felt Across The Construction Sector For The Next Few Years”

Report Shows Impact Of COVID-19 Is Likely To Be Felt Across The Construction Sector For The Next Few Years

The National Construction Pipeline Report 2020 released today forecasts a short-term decline in construction activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Report commissioned by MBIE provides a projection...

Featured image for “Strong results from year-long monitoring of mid-rise, timber-framed building = good news for timber in construction”

Strong results from year-long monitoring of mid-rise, timber-framed building = good news for timber in construction

A full year of monitoring the movement and moisture content of a mid-rise, timber-framed building has yielded data that will help build confidence and acceptance of wood in the construction...

Featured image for “Mass Timber’s Carbon Impact”

Mass Timber’s Carbon Impact

Though mass timber offers many benefits over traditional building materials, its renewable nature and negative carbon impact are perhaps the most exciting. Turning trees into timber emits fewer greenhouse gases...

Featured image for “MITOSIS Biophilic Regenerative Ecosystem in Soest”

MITOSIS Biophilic Regenerative Ecosystem in Soest

MITOSIS Biophilic Regenerative Ecosystem answers the need for healthy homes has hardly ever been more apparent than during the current global condition. The current efforts to reduce the negative impacts...

Featured image for “BIG unveils The Village student centre for Johns Hopkins University”

BIG unveils The Village student centre for Johns Hopkins University

Architecture firm BIG has won a competition to design a village-like student centre for the Johns Hopkins research university in Baltimore, Maryland. BIG came up with The Village design proposal...

Featured image for “BRANZ Scientist Wins Royal Society Te Apārangi Video Competition”

BRANZ Scientist Wins Royal Society Te Apārangi Video Competition

BRANZ Materials Scientist, Anna Walsh, has won the professional category of the Royal Society Te Apārangi 180 Seconds of Fascination video competition. This competition is open to early career researchers...

Featured image for “Three Storey Diagrid Design – Scion Innovation Hub”

Three Storey Diagrid Design – Scion Innovation Hub

Scion is a NZ Crown research institute that specialises in research, science and technology development for the forest, wood and wood-derived materials and other biomaterial sectors. TimberLab was involved early...

Featured image for “The hottest new thing in sustainable building is, uh, wood”

The hottest new thing in sustainable building is, uh, wood

The many, many benefits of using wood in place of concrete and steel. Architects, builders, and sustainability advocates are all abuzz over a new building material they say could substantially...

Featured image for “Rothoblaas: CLT roof supported by columns: 7 x 7 metre grid”

Rothoblaas: CLT roof supported by columns: 7 x 7 metre grid

The elegant roof structure of Handl Gastro Service is breaking records … The ceiling to the new Gastro Service of Markus Handl Beteiligung GmbH is complete. The new combined trading operation and production...

Featured image for “Denmark’s first timber parking garage will be enveloped in greenery”

Denmark’s first timber parking garage will be enveloped in greenery

Danish architecture studios Open Platform and JAJA Architects have won an open competition to design Denmark’s first all-timber parking garage in the coastal city of Aarhus. Designed with a reduced...

Featured image for “Mahana House – back to the future”

Mahana House – back to the future

This is a story about a priest, an architect and a builder… Two years ago, Reverend Craig Dixon approached Scott Watson, Business Development Director at Naylor Love, to talk about...

Featured image for “Nelson Airport wins Gold Award at ACE Awards”

Nelson Airport wins Gold Award at ACE Awards

Project name: Nelson Airport TerminalConsultant: Dunning Thornton ConsultantsClient: Nelson Airport Limited Nelson Airport Limited wanted a new terminal building that had a visual and spatial impact, without compromising future-flexibility. Dunning...

Featured image for “Three Studio Pacific projects awarded at Best Design Awards 2020”

Three Studio Pacific projects awarded at Best Design Awards 2020

Congratulations to our clients and project teams for their success at the 2020 Best Design Awards, with three Studio Pacific projects receiving accolades. The Nelson Airport Terminal received a Gold...

Featured image for “Bringing the outside into the office: Coronavirus bolsters push towards healthier building design”

Bringing the outside into the office: Coronavirus bolsters push towards healthier building design

Image: CookFox Architects, a firm in Manhattan that works on sustainability and green spaces in designing buildings, is a showcase for biophilia, with its office building in Midtown equipped with...

Featured image for “Abodo’s Cardrona Cabin – Wanaka, New Zealand”

Abodo’s Cardrona Cabin – Wanaka, New Zealand

Designed as a showcase for Abodo, this seemingly simple cabin embodies our motto: Carefully Crafted Timber Set in the heart of Cardrona Valley, in the South Island’s harsh alpine climate,...

Featured image for “Waechter’s New Mississippi Building”

Waechter’s New Mississippi Building

Mississippi is a new mixed-use building located on a prominent commercial avenue in Portland. The building is envisioned as a prototype that works to strike a balance between timelessness and...

Featured image for “Timberlink plans CLT and GLT plant – New $60m facility to be built by 2023”

Timberlink plans CLT and GLT plant – New $60m facility to be built by 2023

Timberlink Australia is pleased to announce that following an extensive international review, Danish based Kallesoe Machinery A/S has been selected as the manufacturing equipment supplier for Timberlink’s planned Cross Laminated...

Featured image for “How can we maximise the benefit for mass timber suppliers from this?”

How can we maximise the benefit for mass timber suppliers from this?

Six storey apartments could be coming to a bus stop near you It is highly likely that the new Labour-led government will repeal the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and replace...

Featured image for “Improvements To Building Code”

Improvements To Building Code

Improvements to Building Code cover fire safety requirements, surface water drainage and waterproofing in bathrooms, kitchens and laundries The latest changes to the Building Code will improve fire safety requirements,...

Featured image for “AUT’s built environment is changing”

AUT’s built environment is changing

The way we learn and teach is always changing and AUT’s built environment is changing to meet the challenges of the future. From small beginnings come great things. Nothing could...

Featured image for “Book Review: Canadian CLT Handbook + Tall Wood Buildings”

Book Review: Canadian CLT Handbook + Tall Wood Buildings

Canadian CLT Handbook, 2019 Edition Edited by Erol Karacebeyli and Sylvain Gagnon. (FPInnovations, 2019) Tall Wood Buildings: Design, Construction and Performance By Michael Green and Jim Taggart (Birkhauser, 2020) The...

Featured image for “Building Scientists Concerned Over Building Fire Risks After Proposed Safety Changes Scrapped”

Building Scientists Concerned Over Building Fire Risks After Proposed Safety Changes Scrapped

A year after the Sky City Convention Centre fire, building scientists Oculus Architectural Engineering, are voicing concerns about the combustibility of cladding still being used on many New Zealand buildings....

Featured image for “First Look: New Designs For PDX Take Inspiration From the Region”

First Look: New Designs For PDX Take Inspiration From the Region

Fast forward to 2025: You’ve just landed at PDX and it’s your first time stepping into the new main terminal, as insiders often call the airport’s central hub. As you glimpse...

Featured image for “Prefabricated 41-unit apartment block in Wellington to be ready by mid-2021”

Prefabricated 41-unit apartment block in Wellington to be ready by mid-2021

A $19 million apartment development in Wellington’s Newtown is under construction, but the on-site noise isn’t as loud as people might expect. That’s because the building’s timber walls and floors...

Featured image for “Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios designs carbon negative timber office in London”

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios designs carbon negative timber office in London

UK architecture studio Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has designed a six-storey cross-laminated timber office named Paradise, which will be carbon negative to align with its Architects Declare commitments. The architecture...

Featured image for “binderholz Group wins auction of Klausner Lumber One in Florida, USA and thus expands outside Europe for the first time”

binderholz Group wins auction of Klausner Lumber One in Florida, USA and thus expands outside Europe for the first time

The Austrian binderholz Group, based in Fügen, purchased all assets of Klausner Lumber One LLC, based in Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida, in the auction held on Friday, August 21,...

Featured image for “As Concerns Over Climate Change Rise, More Developers Turn to Wood”

As Concerns Over Climate Change Rise, More Developers Turn to Wood

With environmental benefits and lower labor costs, mass timber has grown into a market that could rival steel and concrete in the construction industry. Although it was established in 1873...

Featured image for “Timberlink selects new CLT & GLT equipment supplier”

Timberlink selects new CLT & GLT equipment supplier

Timberlink Australia is pleased to announce that following an extensive international review, Danish based Kallesoe Machinery A/S has been selected as the manufacturing equipment supplier for Timberlink’s planned Cross Laminated...

Speaker Profile: Denise Martin

Denise Martin is a consulting building analyst in the residential and commercial building sectors of New Zealand and Australia. She founded BEO Ltd and is now the Principle Analyst for...

Featured image for “Europe’s largest timber-frame spec office complex secures funding”

Europe’s largest timber-frame spec office complex secures funding

The worldwide office market is reeling this year, but a trio of institutional investors are betting big on a massive project in Paris. And it’s made of wood. A joint...

Featured image for “Cobe unveils pair of tree-like timber charging stations for electric cars in Denmark”

Cobe unveils pair of tree-like timber charging stations for electric cars in Denmark

Architecture studio Cobe has revealed two charging stations for electric cars in Denmark, which have timber structures designed to create a “restful and Zen-like feel”. Completed as the first of...

Featured image for “Norway: contract award for the next phase of the world’s longest bridge using structural timber”

Norway: contract award for the next phase of the world’s longest bridge using structural timber

On Monday 7 September, representatives of the Norwegian road authority Nye Veier and the joint venture BERINOR ANS, associating BESIX and Rizzani de Eccher, signed the contract for the design,...

Speaker Profile: Katie Symons

Katie Symons is Principal Advisor, Engineering, in the Building System Performance Branch of MBIE. She is leading the development of the whole-of-life embodied carbon framework of MBIE’s Building for Climate...

Featured image for “A world first: 5-storey hotel made of PEFC-certified timber opened in Austria”

A world first: 5-storey hotel made of PEFC-certified timber opened in Austria

The vision to build a hotel entirely of wood has become a reality in the 5* Green Spa Hotel MalisGarten. The hotel opened in June in the Zillertal valley in...

Featured image for “Sustainability Principles Evident In New Mitre 10 Mega Wanaka Build”

Sustainability Principles Evident In New Mitre 10 Mega Wanaka Build

Work is progressing at pace on the new Mitre 10 MEGA Wanaka store at Three Parks business centre. The roof is now on, complete with a 900m2 100kva photovoltaic solar...

Featured image for “Low carbon construction policy a winner for NZ Inc”

Low carbon construction policy a winner for NZ Inc

The government is to be congratulated on implementing its low carbon construction procurement policy. The policy will simultaneously deliver strong economic, social, and environmental outcomes for all New Zealand, and...

Speaker Profile: Gary Lawson

Gary is one of the founding directors of Stevens Lawson Architects Limited established in 2002. The practice’s strengths lie in the creation of innovative design responses with a high level...

Featured image for “Stevens Lawson Architects: Auckland City Mission HomeGround”

Stevens Lawson Architects: Auckland City Mission HomeGround

The Auckland City Mission is a charitable organisation that provides professional health and social services to marginalised Aucklanders. Established in 1920, the City Mission forms an important part of the...

Speaker Profile: Glenn Brebner

Glenn Brebner is the Managing Director of BOON Architects. Sometimes, the seemingly impossible can create a fertile environment for imagination intertwined with hard-nosed pragmatism. This is one of those stories....

Featured image for “Hotel Reschenhof, Mils | Austria”

Hotel Reschenhof, Mils | Austria

Once a quaint village inn, nowadays a beautiful 4* hotel. Reschenhof in Mils, not far from the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck, features a special combination of tradition and modernity. The recently...

Featured image for “Construction Courses Booming As Government COVID Support Measures Ramp Up”

Construction Courses Booming As Government COVID Support Measures Ramp Up

Record numbers of people are taking up free courses and strong signs are emerging of firms making use of government support for apprentices, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Chris...

Featured image for “Luggate Hall Replacement Revealed”

Luggate Hall Replacement Revealed

Luggate locals were among the first to see a developed design of the permanent replacement for Luggate Memorial Hall at a stakeholders’ group meeting held today. Community Association Chair Graeme...

Speaker Profile: Kai Kruse

Kai Kruse is the CEO of Nelson Pine Industries, and will be joining us at WoodWorks 2020 to share on Nelson Pine’s experience with the new Nelson Airport building. Kai...

Featured image for “NKS architects uses criss-crossing laminated timber to design an office in Japan”

NKS architects uses criss-crossing laminated timber to design an office in Japan

In Maniwa, Japan, NKS architects has utilized a system of cross laminated timber to design a head office for Meiken Lamwood Corp. The brief called for the original office buildings...

Featured image for “Social housing with a First Nations basket weave design proposed for Vancouver”

Social housing with a First Nations basket weave design proposed for Vancouver

The latest social housing building proposal in Vancouver takes on an architecturally unique design and establishes a new green building standard for this type of use. Local non-profit housing developer M’akola...

Speaker Profile: Jason Cordes

Jason Cordes is the Managing Director of Red Stag Investments & Wood Solutions. Red Stag has partnered with the Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) and the Primary Growth Partnership Programme...

Featured image for “Fast + Epp’s mass timber headquarters hits major construction milestone”

Fast + Epp’s mass timber headquarters hits major construction milestone

Construction of Fast + Epp’s four-storey mass timber hybrid office located near Vancouver’s Broadway and Cambie intersection has been completed. The new building was erected at 7th Ave. and Yukon...

Featured image for “Vale Gary Caulfield”

Vale Gary Caulfield

It is with great sadness that we inform you Gary Caulfield passed away last week. His passing leaves a massive gap in our mass timber construction industry. From our experience,...

Featured image for “Clearwater Quays – TimberLab”

Clearwater Quays – TimberLab

The manufacturing team has been working hard over the last few months, completing hundreds of prefabricated parts in order to commence the factory assembly of 55 large structural frames for...

Featured image for “France’s Drive for Wood Buildings”

France’s Drive for Wood Buildings

Timber is increasingly being viewed by the international community as a vital tool in the fight against climate change, due to the material providing an immensely beneficial carbon store in...

Featured image for “Fast + Epp Head Office – by Tectonus”

Fast + Epp Head Office – by Tectonus

It is a milestone project for Kiwi company Tectonus – their first in North America and they are thrilled to be working with Paul Fast and his team on the...

Speaker Profile: Daniela Vassura, Jasmax

Daniela is an architect based in the Auckland office for Jasmax. One of the key projects she led with Jasmax was the 14000sqm Park Lane Living Well Village, where she...

Featured image for “Jasmax Wins NZIA Auckland Architecture Awards”

Jasmax Wins NZIA Auckland Architecture Awards

Jasmax finished the NZIA Local Awards season with a bang at the Auckland Architecture awards last week, winning three awards for the two projects they were shortlisted for. The University...

Featured image for “Apple Store Bangkok”

Apple Store Bangkok

Apple Store in Thailand with Swiss timber construction expertise Apple is opening its second and largest retail location in Thailand. Located in the heart of Ratchaprasong, Bangkok’s iconic intersection and...

Featured image for “Hutt Valley Health Hub”

Hutt Valley Health Hub

Fully Operational Post Earthquake Designed to withstand a “one-in-2500 year” earthquake, the Health Hub building will have a one of the highest resilience ratings of medical facilities nationwide. The building has...

Featured image for “Showcase Project: Auckland City Mission Homeground”

Showcase Project: Auckland City Mission Homeground

Several years ago, Stevens Lawson Architects were commissioned by the Auckland City Mission to be the architects for the redevelopment of the Mission’s existing premises on Hobson Street, which are...

Featured image for “Fire Performance Demonstration”

Fire Performance Demonstration

Wood WORKS! BC would like to announce the release of a new educational video, Fire Performance Demonstration Workshop 2.0 – Understanding fire design: applications. Changes to the NBCC mean new...

Featured image for “Mass Timber Primer”

Mass Timber Primer

The most novel architectural material in Canada right now is an old one—wood. But when made into mass timber beams and panels, the age-old material gains structural and fire-resistance qualities...

Featured image for “Should our social housing be passive?”

Should our social housing be passive?

With calls for a green edge to the post-covid recovery – and billions committed to building new state houses in New Zealand – should the Government be considering passive housing?...

Featured image for “World’s tallest hybrid timber tower in Sydney”

World’s tallest hybrid timber tower in Sydney

Atlassian plans to build the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower for its new headquarters in Sydney’s planned ‘Tech Central’ precinct development. The 40-storey hybrid timber structure is designed to inspire...

Featured image for “HoHo Wien, Vienna”

HoHo Wien, Vienna

With one of the highest skyscraper called HoHo, Vienna has it´s first high-rise building made out of wood. The HoHo Vienna is a showcase project for hybrid construction. The HASSLACHER...

Featured image for “Meeting under chevron hoods”

Meeting under chevron hoods

Jeremy Smith contemplates the intricate origami planes of Studio Pacific Architecture’s Nelson Airport Terminal and ascends to the Cab of its playfully splayed trapezoid Control Tower. The thing about being...

Featured image for “Let the experts decide the best building material for the job”

Let the experts decide the best building material for the job

While the post Covid-19 economy will require timely and bold Government intervention, demanding timber be considered over other construction materials could compromise the resilience and safety of our homes, places...

Featured image for “Timber Tonic: How Wood and Natural Materials Can Transform Healthcare Facility Design”

Timber Tonic: How Wood and Natural Materials Can Transform Healthcare Facility Design

More and more, science is confirming common sense and the emerging concept of biophilia: that being exposed to nature—and natural, organic materials—not only calms our mind, it can contribute to...

Featured image for “The Material Revolutionizing the Construction Industry? Wood”

The Material Revolutionizing the Construction Industry? Wood

Architects and engineers are working on ways to swap steel and glass for strong, sustainable wood-based materials. When the empire state building was completed in 1931, the 102-story skyscraper ranked...

Featured image for “California Promotes Architectural Innovation Through Mass Timber Competition”

California Promotes Architectural Innovation Through Mass Timber Competition

In California, the Governor’s Forest Management Task Force and the Office of Planning and Research announced the winners of their first-ever competition designed to highlight a category of engineered wood...

Featured image for “MADMA proposes to unite senezh management lab in Russia beneath undulating canopy”

MADMA proposes to unite senezh management lab in Russia beneath undulating canopy

Rotterdam-based firm MADMA has revealed its proposal for the campus of a new management school in Russia. Located in Solnechnogorsk, a town on the outskirts of Moscow, the ‘senezh management...

Featured image for “Head of Legal & General modular homes factory reveals plans for its future”

Head of Legal & General modular homes factory reveals plans for its future

It’s all go for Legal & General’s modular homes factory as it plans to develop in Selby and aims to export. Legal & General’s Yorkshire-based, factory-built homes business was established...

Featured image for “Sidewalk Labs shuts down Toronto project”

Sidewalk Labs shuts down Toronto project

Sidewalk Labs is closing its project in Toronto, the company said in a brief statement in May. “For the last two-and-a-half years, we have been passionate about making Quayside happen...

Featured image for “How construction can emerge stronger after coronavirus”

How construction can emerge stronger after coronavirus

COVID-19 has affected communities globally, with more than 2.5 million reported cases as of April 30—a number that is still rising. And while governments and companies globally are responding fast,...

Featured image for “Over 30,000 plants, shrubs and trees would grow from 377-ft timber tower”

Over 30,000 plants, shrubs and trees would grow from 377-ft timber tower

Assuming the recently unveiled Rainbow Tree by Vincent Callebaut Architectures is actually built, the greenery-covered timber tower will rise to an impressive height of 115 m (377 ft) in Cebu,...

Featured image for “Earth Day 2020: Sustainability experts pick their favourite green buildings in Vancouver”

Earth Day 2020: Sustainability experts pick their favourite green buildings in Vancouver

Ghazal Ebrahimi says there’s a typical misconception about green buildings. It’s that environmentally friendly buildings are boring and look like shoeboxes. She recalled that during the time she worked as...

Featured image for “HDR will design a mass timber Ramada Hotel”

HDR will design a mass timber Ramada Hotel

A new 82-suite, 12-story mass timber Ramada Hotel is set to rise in Kelowna, British Columbia in a space that is currently surface parking. HDR will provide architectural design services...

Featured image for “Freres Lumber launches new mass plywood panel beam and column line”

Freres Lumber launches new mass plywood panel beam and column line

With its new MPP (Mass Plywood Panel) beam and column line up and running, Freres Lumber Co., Inc. is now able to provide a cost-competitive MPP solution for all structural...

Featured image for “Timber Composite Tower in Milwaukee To Begin Pre-Leasing”

Timber Composite Tower in Milwaukee To Begin Pre-Leasing

New Land Enterprises will begin pre-leasing apartments in Ascent, a proposed 25-story apartment tower made from mass timber, in the coming days. A brochure will include floor plans, prices, and...

Featured image for “MASSLAM passes extreme fire test in an Australian first”

MASSLAM passes extreme fire test in an Australian first

MASSLAM, ASH’s range of massive timber members, has passed Australia’s first 120 minute ‘loaded’ beam fire test. The glue-laminated members undertook the 120 minute Fire Resistance Test (FRT) and Fire...

Featured image for “Material of the Future: 4 Architects that Experiment with Cross Laminated Timber”

Material of the Future: 4 Architects that Experiment with Cross Laminated Timber

Featured Image: Gilles Retsin and Stephan Markus Albrecht’s Nuremberg Concert Hall proposal takes advantage of the project’s location in the Bavaria region a Germany, an area known for its abundance...

Featured image for “Case Study: Green School, New Zealand”

Case Study: Green School, New Zealand

Educating with Impact Our ChallengeWith a tight timeframe, we were asked to consider going ahead with this project. It involved many complex glulam curved members and needed to meet sustainable...

Featured image for “25 KING reaches Platinum Level for Sustainable Design in Buildings”

25 KING reaches Platinum Level for Sustainable Design in Buildings

EXPOSED TIMBER STRUCTURES CREATE CONTEMPORARY, CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT AUSTRALIA’S tallest engineered timber office building, 25 King, has claimed the title of Queensland’s first WELL Core and Shell Certification at the Platinum...

Featured image for “Tallest Timber Building in Eastern North America”

Tallest Timber Building in Eastern North America

It took only four months, from December 2016 to April 2017, to erect the wooden structure of Quebec City’s Origine: a 13 story high, remarkable landmark and tallest wood building...

Featured image for “Why wood is so good – beautiful ways to include timber in your home”

Why wood is so good – beautiful ways to include timber in your home

As a designer, I’ve always been fascinated by materials, trends and concepts which flow in and out of collective popularity. But, there has been one material which has endured over...

Featured image for “WRNS Studio designs largest timber project in North America for Microsoft”

WRNS Studio designs largest timber project in North America for Microsoft

While many cross-laminated timber (CLT) buildings have tested the vertical limits of the product, San Francisco–based architecture firm WRNS Studio recently set a record by designing North America’s largest CLT...

Featured image for “Buildings for the future”

Buildings for the future

It is astonishing that buildings have so rarely been discussed in the climate change debate so far. Indeed, the ecological burden generated from our built environment is overwhelming. Buildings for the...

Featured image for “New French public buildings must be made 50% from wood”

New French public buildings must be made 50% from wood

The government of France is set to require that all new public buildings must be made at least 50% from wood or other sustainable materials from 2022 as it pushes...

Featured image for “A new RIBA show asks if timber is the new concrete”

A new RIBA show asks if timber is the new concrete

At around this point last year, The Guardian ran the headline, “Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth.” This was, you could say, concrete’s watershed moment. Attitudes towards the material...

Featured image for “Timber Goes High-Tech in New Toronto Office Tower”

Timber Goes High-Tech in New Toronto Office Tower

Set to break ground this month, Toronto’s 77 Wade is taking a high-tech approach to hybrid construction. This eight-story office building blends historic timber construction from yesteryear with the innovative...

Featured image for “Brookfield Properties to Build the Largest Mass Timber Office Building in North America at Pier 70 in San Francisco”

Brookfield Properties to Build the Largest Mass Timber Office Building in North America at Pier 70 in San Francisco

Brookfield Properties plans to build the largest mass timber office building in North America as part of its 28-acre Pier 70 waterfront development at a historic shipyard property in San...

Featured image for “Magdalena Hotel: The First Mass Timber Boutique Hotel in North America”

Magdalena Hotel: The First Mass Timber Boutique Hotel in North America

PROGRESS UPDATE: We are nearing complete installation of the three hotel buildings. StructureCraft, as design-builder, joined the project team early to be structural engineer for the timber superstructure, working closely...

Featured image for “Generate and Placetailor to build carbon-neutral CLT apartment block in Boston”

Generate and Placetailor to build carbon-neutral CLT apartment block in Boston

Architecture studio Generate and developer Placetailor have unveiled plans to build a carbon-neutral apartment block in Boston using a cross-laminated timber “kit of parts”. The proposed five-storey block will use...

Featured image for “La Trobe’s $100m Timber Student Housing Nears Completion”

La Trobe’s $100m Timber Student Housing Nears Completion

Contractor Multiplex has topped out the largest mass timber construction project of its kind in Victoria, La Trobe University’s $100 million student accommodation project at its Bundoora campus. Continuing the...

Featured image for “LEVER Architecture’s Thomas Robinson discusses the impact California could have on the timber industry”

LEVER Architecture’s Thomas Robinson discusses the impact California could have on the timber industry

We are witnessing a revolution in how we build with engineered timber in the United States. In January 2019, the International Code Council (ICC) approved changes that would allow high-rise...

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Beam me up – jobs, sustainable housing branch out from timber research

Research by Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) to develop a new sustainable timber product has delivered additional jobs and a boost to a Queensland construction company. Minister for...

The power of full-scale mock ups

Do not underestimate the power of full scale mock ups to finalise detailing. All too often with mass timber the focus is on the timber detailing and QA, the interface with other “traditional” trades is taken as is. In reality the focus on QA for the “traditional” trades and components is always significantly less than the “new” product to be feared! Source: Gary Caulfield via LinkedIn...

XLam Testing Program

XLam are committed to a testing program which seeks to deepen the market understanding of the key phenomenon affecting mass timber buildings. As we evolve from a CLT manufacturer into Mass Timber Solutions provider we find ourselves more involved in testing other systems and even other timber products (in this case glulam). In this test completed recently at CSIRO in Sydney we were examining the factors affecting the post-fire behaviour and self-extinguishment of glulam post/beam connections. There were some interesting...

Featured image for “Walmart invests in mass timber maker Structurlam”

Walmart invests in mass timber maker Structurlam

Canadian mass timber manufacturer and cross-laminated timber (CLT) pioneer Structurlam will invest $90 million into its first U.S. production facility in Arkansas. Around 130 new jobs will be created. ...

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GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry

Introduction The GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry was designed as an exemplar of sustainability in design, construction and choice of materials, and one which would be carbon...

Featured image for “CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) Mats 101”

CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) Mats 101

CLT, or Cross-Laminated Timber, is the basis of construction for Sterling’s TerraLam CLT mat. Used to build temporary access roads as part of a site access or ground protection plan,...

Featured image for “Catholic Cathedral College embraces timber construction”

Catholic Cathedral College embraces timber construction

Nearly at the halfway point of construction, Catholic Cathedral College’s new $5.6 million office, administration and classroom building will be constructed using industry leading resilient and sustainable systems, with timber...

Featured image for “Your invitation to be part of an Open Letter to Government”

Your invitation to be part of an Open Letter to Government

All New Zealand wood processing and forestry companies are invited to add their name to an Open Letter to Government calling on it to implement its promised ‘Wood First’. The...

Featured image for “Korea’s nation-wide TV broadcaster Advocates Carbon Benefits of Wood Buildings”

Korea’s nation-wide TV broadcaster Advocates Carbon Benefits of Wood Buildings

A special report by UN classifying climate change as urgent has caught the attention of Korea’s largest public TV broadcaster, Korea Broadcasting System (KBS.) KBS televised an hour-long documentary, The...

Featured image for “20th Australian Timber Design Awards Winner Announced!”

20th Australian Timber Design Awards Winner Announced!

The Annual Australian Timber Design Award winners for 2019 have been announced at The Crown in Melbourne this October where fitzpatrick + partners claimed first prize for their stunning Castlecrag...

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High-density housing on the rise

The number of new high-density homes consented grew 22 percent in the September 2019 year, reaching 14,492 consented, Stats NZ said today. High-density or multi-unit homes include apartments, townhouses, flats...

Featured image for “How Timber Construction is Transforming Australian Development”

How Timber Construction is Transforming Australian Development

The way projects are being delivered in Australia is rapidly changing with the emergence of mass timber, an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional structural systems. Mass timber encompasses a suite...

Featured image for “Scion benefits from the outdoors – indoors”

Scion benefits from the outdoors – indoors

The occasional pot-plant is common in modern offices, but how about large trees, potted palms as tall as people, and banks of greenery? It’s what’s included in biophilic design –...

Featured image for “Exploring the potential of tall timber buildings”

Exploring the potential of tall timber buildings

New research shows timber core-wall systems can be used in mid- to high-rise timber buildings to form lift shafts or staircases, making it easier, more flexible and cheaper to build...

Featured image for “Red Stag to showcase timber construction in new projects”

Red Stag to showcase timber construction in new projects

Rotorua-based timber products company Red Stag is about to embark on several building projects to showcase the potential of timber as a construction material in large-scale building projects. Red Stag...

Featured image for “2018 Timber Design Awards: Winners Announced”

2018 Timber Design Awards: Winners Announced

The 2018 NZ Wood-Resene Timber Design Awards honoured winners last week at a gala event in Auckland for their creative and innovative use of timber. Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association promotions...

Featured image for “Canterbury technology behind the future of earthquake-resistant construction”

Canterbury technology behind the future of earthquake-resistant construction

Cutting-edge timber technology developed in Christchurch could change the future of construction and how buildings react to earthquakes. The new Beatrice Tinsley building, at the University of Canterbury’s (UC) Ilam campus, is...