Timber Design & Technology Middle East - May 2018

Snøhetta designs ‘Svart’ - the world’s first energy positive hotel concept above the Arctic Circle Furniture, plywood and sawntimber top earners for Malaysian timber industry The mass-timber revolution is coming, says Clare Farrow Atmos reveals new rippling timber staircase that spirals organically through hotly-anticipated new Mayfair restaurant Interloop: connecting yesterday and tomorrow

Sound design.

American hardwoods.

American tulipwood acoustic panelling by Ben Percy uplifts and updates the performance hall at the Northern Beaches Colleges Senior Campus in Freshwater, Sydney. Architects and designers all over the world have embraced American hardwoods for the range of colours, grains and textures they offer, as well as for their consistency in grade, quality and supply and their sustainable credentials.

For more information visit www.americanhardwood.org

Snøhetta designs ‘Svart’ - the world’s first energy positive hotel concept above the Arctic Circle Furniture, plywood and sawntimber top earners for Malaysian timber industry The mass-timber revolution is coming Atmos reveals new rippling timber staircase that spirals organically through hotly-anticipated new Mayfair restaurant Interloop: connecting yesterday and tomorrow

Interloop © Studio Chris Fox

May 2018 Issue 38

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EDITOR’S NOTE Earlier this year, Admares, a leading specialist in floating construction from Finland, completed the delivery of ten ‘floating’ water homes, two restaurants and a yacht club as part of its contract with Dubai Properties for the Marasi Business Bay project. These unique architectural structures were exclusively manufactured by Admares at their purpose-built facilities located in Rauma, Finland before they were transported to Dubai and finally towed at Marasi Business Bay. Equipped with the latest technology, the exterior façade of the floating villas is made from Finnish ThermoWood, which is an excellent choice for Middle Eastern markets as it is proven to work well in different climate conditions and has good weather endurance. According to Admares, wooden surfaces also give cities, usually based very much on concrete and steel, warm and pleasant atmosphere. We couldn’t agree more!

We also take a closer look at two projects that reinterpret the wooden staircase. Hedonism Wines and Michelin starred super-chef Ollie Dabbous launched HIDE earlier this year and commissioned Atmos to design and deliver the exuberant centerpiece staircase that weaves between the three levels of experience. The rippling timber staircase - StairStalk - spirals organically through the restaurant and its evolving design took its cue from the natural palette, playful imagination, and powerful aesthetic developed by both the interior designer and the project client. Meanwhile, Australian contemporary artist and sculptor Chris Fox unveiled a major site-specific installation - The Interloop - suspended from the ceiling above a bank of escalators inside Wynyard Station in Sydney’s CBD. First installed in 1931, the historic wooden escalators at Wynyard station have served Sydney’s commuters for over eight decades. The decision to remove them allowed for them to be reborn as a sculpture.

On display at Salone Del Mobile 2018, the Bloom Cabinet garnered significant interest primarily due to its kaleidoscopic façade. Representing the perfect mix of design and craft, the piece was a collaboration between Australian industrial designer Adam Goodrum and French marquetry artisan Arthur Seigneur.

Inspired by the lush form of a lotus in full flower, the Bloom harnesses the exuberance of centuries-old straw inlay technique in the service of a resolutely contemporary aesthetic. Hand-crafted in Sydney, the Bloom’s semi-circular doors are composed of 4,320 sections of premium grade rye straw imported from speciality growers in Burgundy, France. Goodrum and Seigneur devised twelve unique pigments to create a gradient of intensity across a warm spectrum: from deep noir to cobalt and violet though to fuchsia and pale rose. In contrast to its luxuriant exterior, the chassis of the Bloom cabinet is a refined structure of hand-crafted, black-stained oak joinery. Its interior is lined in white maple, silky to the touch. Overall, this interplay of solid geometries - the oblong and the disc - is intrinsic to the object’s timeless appeal.

As always, I would like to encourage you to log on to the website - www.timberdesignandtechnology.com - for the latest updates and please get in touch if you have any suggestions for subjects we should consider covering. In closing, I would like to thank our advertisers, our partners and our readers.

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CONTENTS

10 SUSTAINABILITY

46 TECHNOLOGY

Snøhetta designs ‘Svart’ - the world’s first energy positive hotel concept above the Arctic Circle

HOMAG presents its latest cutting-edge innovations at HOLZ-HANDWERK 2018

14 ANALYSIS

49 TECHNOLOGY

Furniture, plywood and sawntimber top earners for Malaysian timber industry

Al-Ghamdi Wood: Saudi ‘King’ of doors chooses SCM Technologies

38 COMMENT

52 WOOD WORKS

The mass-timber revolution is coming, says Clare Farrow

Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur design collaboration blooms at Salone Del Mobile 2018

42 TALL TIMBER

54 SHOWTIME CALENDAR

Toronto to get 12-storey timber tower dubbed ‘The Arbour’

All the dates of the top industry exhibitions coming up this season

DESIGN & DECOR

18 STAIRSTALK

28 INTERLOOP

34 MARASI

Atmos reveals new rippling timber staircase that spirals organically through hotly-anticipated new Mayfair restaurant

Interloop: connecting yesterday and tomorrow

Admares delivers floating villas made from Finnish ThermoWood for Marasi Water Homes project

06

Asia’s most influential furniture production, woodworking machinery and interior decor trade fair closed on a high note on March 31, 2018. The event covered an area of 150,000 square meters, with a total of 1,459 exhibitors, including 340 companies from abroad. The four-day event attracted participation from a total of 107 countries and regions. In addition, a record 89,858 visitors showed up to sniff out the latest and best products - an increase of about 7.8 percent over the previous year.

The number of buyers from mature markets such as Malaysia and South Korea as well as emerging markets including India and Pakistan also recorded significant growth.

An independent survey was commissioned by the organizers on exhibitors and visitors during the exhibition period to understand the latest status of the furniture production market. Results showed optimism towards the industry’s prospects this year. The top two reasons for visiting the event included “seeking new suppliers” (62%) and “looking to become an agent” (37%). Nearly half (48%) of the surveyed buyers were at the event for hardware and component for furniture and cabinet. In addition, functional hardware is expected to be the focal point of the industry and is thought to possess the highest potential for market growth. 86% of the respondents also said a resounding “yes” when asked if they would return for the next edition - a 14% jump from 2017, cementing CIFM / interzum guangzhou’s competitiveness as the region’s leading trade platform for furniture production.

“As the biggest furniture production trade fair for the Asian region,

Image © CIFM / Interzum Image © CIFM / Interzum

Image © CIFM / Interzum

Image © CIFM / Interzum

OUTSTANDING SUCCESS OF CIFM / INTERZUM GUANGZHOU 2018 SPELLS OPTIMISM IN CHINA’S FURNITURE PRODUCTION MARKET

interzum guangzhou is of great value for gaining insights into both the product trends and future development of the industry.

Coupled with China being the world’s largest furniture production base and consumer market with the greatest growth potential, interzum guangzhou has long been the most efficient trading platform for overseas brands to enter the China market. Our survey results are also very heartening with positive industry outlook and unprecedented participant approval rating," said Keith Tsui, Managing Director of Koelnmesse China.

The new Custom Furniture Supplier Zone was a major crowd puller, which saw manufacturers with superior raw materials and novel design gather under one roof. Besides functional hardware, furniture lighting also proved to be the other segment to see exponential expansion. Yet another bright spot, the inaugural ‘20 PLUS 20 Annual List - interzum guangzhou Outstanding Furniture Accessories’ initiated by the show organizers to actively recognize and encourage innovative brands and products in the furniture manufacturing field saw nominations pouring in from exhibitors to vie for the top 20 most influential and innovative furniture accessories accolade for 2017-2018. After several rounds of screening by the organizing committee and a foreign expert consultant team, an award ceremony was held to honor the companies behind the winning products. A special feature display area was also erected and open to visitors who pored over the exhibits for free throughout the show period.

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NEW FURNITURE COMPONENT & MATERIALS EVENT AIMING TO OFFER THE ULTIMATE DESIGN TOOLKIT

FIM 2018 will unite local furniture-makers, interior designers and architects with international providers of materials, tools and components who are looking to expand their reach across the Gulf.

In what is a first of its kind in the region, the three-day event will present a shop-window of base materials and parts, rather than finished products. By gathering hundreds of international suppliers, the show will build a unique one-stop shop for interior professionals looking to obtain every fabric, crafting component or digital solution required to advance their manufacturing process.

Image © FIM

Image © FIM

Event manager Alaa Al Ush is behind the FIM concept. He explained: “The furniture market has, over the last decade, grown exponentially across the UAE and the Gulf region. A strong economy, considerable governmental support and a young population base, coupled with other secondary factors - centrally large-scale developments in infrastructural, economical, industrial and educational projects have created a strong platform for the industry to grow to new horizons. Domestic furniture manufacturers are also expanding their capacity to fulfil premium household furniture demand, thus driving

the overall furniture market further forward.”

“In our eyes, a furniture industry of that size and influence should be able to cater to itself; manufacturers shouldn’t be forced to travel abroad to get a hold of the resources they need. It makes sense to bring the world of components, materials, fixtures and fittings to them, streamlining their procurement process, and that’s exactly what FIM will do,” added Al Ush. The new event - which is currently recruiting exhibitors - will unite local furniture-makers, interior designers and architects with international providers of materials, tools and components who are looking to expand their reach across the Gulf. According to a 2017 market report by analysts Ventures Middle East - citing the United Nations Commodity Trade Database - the annual export value of furniture and parts thereof out of the region is forecast to be worth AED 1.5 billion (USD 400 million) each year. Of that, the UAE accounted for an estimated AED 750 million (USD 200 million), half the total figure. It is that mammoth industry that FIM seeks to benefit, promoting the skill and value of the experts fuelling that booming market.

Al Ush added: “From wood, fabric and materials, to fittings, structural parts, 3D printing and upholstery tools, the show will bring manufacturing to life in the most organic way. We see a real need for an event where the thousands of creative minds behind our growing region’s vast catalogue of new build and refurbishment projects can source from one place alone every piece of any furnishing product they are trying to bring to life. And that’s what FIM will be.”

Image © FIM

dmg events - the team behind INDEX, the Big 5 and the Hotel Show Dubai - have announced a brand new interiors event for autumn 2018, aimed at offering Middle East interior design buyers and manufacturers direct access to a massive pool of specialist material and component suppliers. Announced for September, FIM will seek to account for the needs of those specializing in every stage of the furniture manufacture and supply chain by showcasing all the materials, fittings and technology required to bring any interiors product from concept to reality.

08

Image © ETH Zurich

ROBOTIC COLLABORATION IN TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

Researchers from ETH Zurich are using a new method for digital timber construction in a real project for the first time. The loadbearing timber modules, which are prefabricated by robots, will be assembled on the top two floors at the DFAB HOUSE construction site. Digitalization has found its way into timber construction, with entire elements already being fabricated by computer-aided systems.

The raw material is cut to size by the machines, but in most cases it still has to be manually assembled to create a plane frame. In the past, this fabrication process came with many geometric restrictions.

required rigidity and load-bearing result from the geometric structure.

Not only does this save material; it also opens up new creative possibilities. A total of six spatial, geometrically unique timber modules will be prefabricated in this way for the first time. Lorries will then transport them to the DFAB HOUSE construction site at the NEST in Dübendorf, where they will be joined to build a two-storey residential unit with more than 100 m2 of floor space. The complex geometry of the timber construction will remain visible behind a transparent membrane façade.

Under the auspices of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication, researchers from ETH Zurich’s Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication have developed a new, digital timber construction method that expands the range of possibilities for traditional timber frame construction by enabling the efficient construction and assembly of geometrically complex timber modules.

Spatial Timber Assemblies evolved from a close collaboration with Erne AG Holzbau and will be used for the first time in the DFAB HOUSE project at the Empa and Eawag NEST research and innovation construction site in Dübendorf. It is also the first large-scale architectural project to use the construction robots developed by ETH Zurich’s new Robotic Fabrication Laboratory.

The robots use information from a computer-aided design model to cut and arrange the timber beams. This method was specially developed during the project and uses various input parameters to create a geometry consisting of 487 timber beams in total. The fact that Spatial Timber Assemblies is being used for digital fabrication and also in design and planning offers a major advantage according to Matthias Kohler, Professor of Architecture and Digital Fabrication at ETH Zurich and the man spearheading the DFAB HOUSE project: “If any change is made to the project overall, the computer model can be constantly adjusted to meet the new requirements. This kind of integrated digital architecture is closing the gap between design, planning and execution.”

The robot first takes a timber beam and guides it while it is sawed to size. After an automatic tool change, a second robot drills the required holes for connecting the beams. In the final step, the two robots work together and position the beams in the precise spatial arrangement based on the computer layout. To prevent collisions when positioning the individual timber beams, the researchers have developed an algorithm that constantly recalculates the path of motion for the robots according to the current state of construction. Workers then manually bolt the beams together.

ETH Zurich has already completed a successful collaboration with Erne AG Holzbau on the robot-built timber roof of the Arch_ Tech_Lab at the Hönggerberg campus. Thanks to Spatial Timber Assemblies, the company’s expertise in timber construction will make yet another contribution to ETH research. Kohler believes in the synergy effect brought about by the partnership: “Digital fabrication depaends on the tremendous expertise required for craftsmanship. Conversely, digitalization can improve craftsmanship and open up new opportunities.” Kohler also says the fact that scientific disciplines go hand in hand with industry is essential if technologies are to be used in real architectural projects after such a brief time.

Unlike traditional timber frame construction, Spatial Timber Assemblies can manage without reinforcement plates because the

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10

Snøhetta designs ‘Svart’ the world’s first energy positive hotel concept above the Arctic Circle

Image © Snøhetta

Hotel will lower annual energy consumption by 85 percent and generate its own power

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the ZERO Emission Resource Organization and Asplan Viak.

The term Powerhouse is used to describe so-called ‘plus house’ buildings that are built by the Powerhouse collaboration. ‘Plus houses’ are energy producing buildings that, in the course of a 60-year period, will generate more renewable energy than the total amount of energy that would be required to sustain daily operations and to build, produce materials and demolish the building.

Image © Snøhetta

Powerhouse is responsible for several plus house projects, including Norway’s first plus house, the world’s first rehabilitated plus house at Kjørbo in Sandvika, Norway.

Today, Powerhouse is building a Montessori school in Drøbak, which opened in February 2018.

In Trondheim, Powerhouse partner Entra is building new Powerhouses at Brattørkaia in Telemark and R8 is building Powerhouse Telemark.

In collaboration with Arctic Adventure of Norway, Asplan Viak and Skanska, Snøhetta has designed ‘Svart’ the world’s first Powerhouse hotel, at the foot of the Svartisen glacier that runs through the Meløy municipality in northern Norway. The name ‘Svart’, meaning ‘black’ in Norwegian, is a direct tribute to the deep blue ice of Svartisen and the Svartisen name. As the word for ‘black’ and ‘blue’ are the same in old Norse, the name is also a reference to the natural heritage of Svartisen, its precious glacier and its natural surroundings.

Compared to an equivalent hotel built in accordance with modern building standards in Norway, the new hotel reduces yearly energy consumption by approximately 85 percent. Not only is the hotel the first-of-its-kind to be built in compliance with the Powerhouse standard, it will also become the

A minimal footprint The circular body of ‘Svart’ extends from the shoreline by the foot of the Almlifjellet mountain world’s northernmost Powerhouse building. In addition, it produces its own energy - an absolute must in this precious arctic environment.

“Building in such a precious environment comes with some clear obligations in terms of preserving the natural beauty and the fauna and flora of the site. It was important for us to design a sustainable building that will leave a minimal environmental footprint on this beautiful Northern nature.

Building an energy positive and low-impact hotel is an essential factor to create a sustainable tourist destination respecting the unique features of the plot; the rare plant species, the clean waters and the blue ice of the Svartisen glacier,” said Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Founding Partner at Snøhetta.

Powerhouse standard Powerhouse is a collaboration between Snøhetta, Entra, Skanska,

and into the clear waters of the Holandsfjorden fjord. The circular shape provides a panoramic view of the fjord and an experience of living in proximity with nature.

The construction is inspired by local vernacular architecture in the form of the ‘fiskehjell’ (an A-shaped wooden structure for drying fish) and the ‘rorbue’ (a traditional type of seasonal house used by fishermen). The rorbue reference translates into the hotel’s supporting structure which is built from weather resistant wooden poles stretching several meters below the surface of the fjord. The poles ensure that the building physically places a minimal footprint in the pristine nature and gives the building an almost transparent appearance.

The poles of the hotel double as a wooden boardwalk for visitors to stroll in the summer. In the winter, the boardwalk can be used to store boats and kayaks, reducing the need for garages and additional storage space. The height of structure also allows for paddlers to paddle under the hotel corpus. The precious nature surrounding the hotel can only

13

An energy optimized design To reach the Powerhouse standard, several cutting-edge design choices have been made.

For example, the architects have conducted an extensive mapping of how solar radiation behaves in relation to mountainous context throughout the year to optimize the harvest of energy.

The result of the study has been an importance premise for the circular design of the hotel, and both hotel rooms, restaurants and terraces are strategically placed to exploit the sun’s energy throughout the day and seasons.

The hotel’s roof is clad with Norwegian solar panels produced with clean hydro energy reducing the carbon footprint even further.

Due to the long summer nights of this area, the annual production of solar energy will actually be higher than the amount of energy that one could harvest further south.

The hotel also uses geothermal wells that are connected to heat pumps. These are used to

heat the building, thus reducing the building’s total energy consumption.

Secluded terraces provide a shadow play in the façade of the hotel while also ensuring privacy.

The facades protect against insolation from the sun in the summer when the sun is high in the sky, removing the need for artificial cooling. During the winter months, when the sun is low in the sky, the large windows of the façade allow for a maximum of insolation to exploit the sun’s natural thermal energy.

Materials with low embodied energy have been used to reach the Powerhouse standard.

Embodied energy is the amount of energy that is required to produce, transport, build and replace materials and products that go into a building. Embodied energy is highest in materials produced with energy derived from fossil fuels.

The use of wood in construction and cladding minimizes the environmental impact of the building, and typically energyintensive materials such as structural steel and concrete have been avoided as much as possible.

Image © Snøhetta

be accessed by boat and there are plans to introduce an energy neutral boat shuttle from the city of Bodø to the hotel.

Project Name: Svart

Client:

Arctic Adventure

Location: Norway

Architect: Snøhetta

Photography: Snøhetta

Furniture, plywood and sawn timber top earners for Malaysian timber industry

Image Š MTC

14

Image © MTC

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Wooden furniture together with plywood and sawntimber are ranked the top three foreign exchange earners for the Malaysian timber industry, according to the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC). These three products combined, in recent years, constitute more than RM 15 billion (USD 3.48 billion) or about 70 percent of Malaysia’s total export of timber and timber products annually.

A domestic-centric sector some three decades ago, the furniture industry of Malaysia has evolved robustly to become a major producer and export of furniture globally. Sustainably managed forest resources, strong institutional support and encouragement from the government, the application of leading edge technology plus the entrepreneurial spirit of its industrialists are among the contributing factors in making Malaysia a hub of furniture manufacturing today, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

For 2016, the value of Malaysia’s

Among the popular Malaysian timbers used in the manufacture of furniture are Rubberwood, Nyatoh, Kembang Semangkok, Dark Red Meranti, Balau and Acacia export of wooden furniture was RM 7.56 billion (USD 1.82 billion).

For 2017, the export value of Malaysian wooden furniture was RM 8.06 billion (USD 1.87 billion), which was an increase of 6.6 percent compared to 2016.

In terms of percentage share of export value, for 2016 it was 34.2 percent while for 2017, the contribution from this sector to the total export of timber and timber products was 34.7 percent.

While Malaysian furniture is exported to more than 160 countries across the globe, the top three export destinations are the United States of America, Japan and Australia. In order of product popularity, dining furniture sets are the most highly sought followed by living room, systems and office furniture, and outdoor and occasional concepts.

Among the popular Malaysian

timbers used in the manufacture of furniture are Rubberwood, Nyatoh, Kembang Semangkok, Dark Red Meranti, Balau and Acacia. Of these timbers, Rubberwood is the most popular as about 80 percent of Malaysian wooden furniture is made from this species alone.

Plywood has been produced in Malaysia since the 1940s.

However, the industry really took off in the mid-1960s when many markets like the United States of America, Europe, Korea and Japan began appreciating the high quality and technical reliability of Malaysian plywood.

The Malaysian plywood industry is concentrated in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, although some of the longer established mills are located in Peninsular Malaysia.

In 2017, exports of Malaysian plywood were valued at RM 4.61

billion (USD 1.07 billion), which was 5.4 percent higher than 2016.

For 2016, the value of Malaysian plywood exports was RM 4.34 billion (USD 1.04 billion).

The plywood types produced in Malaysia include common veneer face plywood, decorative plywood, overlaid plywood including printed paper and polyester plywood, phenolic film-faced plywood, plywood for concrete formwork and container flooring, and marine plywood.

Some mills have ventured into veneer-based products such as Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) and plywood-based flooring. The bulk of the plywood produced in Malaysia is the standard 1220 mm x 2440 mm (4’ x 8’) utility plywood with the surfaces sanded and edge-trimmed. Other sizes available are 915 mm x 2135 mm (3’ x 7’) and 915 mm x 1830 mm (3’ x 6’). Common thickness ranges from 3 mm to 25 mm in 3 to 13 plies.

Malaysian plywood is produced in compliance with internationally recognized standards such as

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Malaysian sawntimber is produced in various sizes and species and exported as either graded or ungraded sawntimber. Thailand, China and the Philippines have been the top three export destinations for Malaysian sawntimber since 2012. The major species exported by Malaysian sawmills include Balau, Kapur, Keruing, Kempas, Kelat, Keranji, Meranti and Mersawa. The current practice on grading of sawntimber is very much a buyer-seller arrangement and is often done upon specific request. Depending on the purpose for which the timbers are purchased, buyers

General Market Specification is reserved for timbers, e.g., boards and planks, that are usually re-sawn before use and the timbers are graded under the Cutting System. Special Market Specification deals with timbers for specific purposes and the final sizes are usually specified, e.g., railway sleepers and cross arms.

Although grading is no longer compulsory, the MGR remains

as an assurance tool for buyers purchasing Malaysian timber. If buyers are looking for certainty of getting the quality they want, they should order graded timbers. The MGR is designed to provide a statement of quality on sawntimbers shipped from Malaysia.

Malaysia also exports valueadded timber products such as moldings, wooden frames and Builders’ Joinery and Carpentry (BJC) products. The total export value for these products in 2017 was RM 2.16 billion compared to RM 2.17 billion in 2016. Although registering a slight decline in export earnings in 2017, these

product segments contribute 9.3 percent to the total export of timber and timber products from Malaysia.

Ever since Malaysian carpenters and builders began to shape and use wood, the moldings and BJC industries have grown by leaps and bounds. Today, a wide range of quality moldings and BJC products such as wooden cornices, wainscoting, dado rails, doors and frames, windows and frames, flooring, decking, picture frames and laminated beams are produced in Malaysia and exported worldwide.

Malaysian moldings and BJC wood products are able to meet the increasing demand of buyers for use in building and construction projects. These include hotels, resorts, theme parks, temples, houses and office buildings, and for the production of furniture, doors and windows as well as for outdoor and marine applications in ships and boats. Malaysian timber manufacturers and exporters are also innovative in satisfying the requirements of foreign importers, including customizing products to customers’ needs and being flexible in meeting service and shipment requirements.

A diverse range of timber species are available from the forests and plantations of Malaysia for the production of moldings and BJC products. The popular species used in moldings and BJC production include Meranti, Gerutu, Kempas, Balau, Merbau, Bintangor, Merpauh and Rubberwood. Buyers can be assured that the moldings and BJC products they import from Malaysia are backed by years of R&D, strict regulations and strong support from established government institutions like the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Forestry Department, Malaysian Timber Industry Board and Malaysian Timber Council.

Malaysian sawntimber is produced in various sizes and species and exported as either graded or ungraded sawntimber

Image © MTC

Malaysia’s sawmilling industry is the largest and oldest wood processing sector in the country.

Sawntimber is mainly produced for the export market, but the industry is also a source of sawntimber for the domestic market especially the construction industry as well as a source of raw materials for the downstream wood processing industries, notably the molding, joinery and furniture industries. Malaysia’s total export of sawntimber in 2016 was worth RM 3.39 billion (USD 0.82 billion). For 2017, the export value of Malaysian sawntimber was RM 3.89 billion (USD 0.90 billion), which was 14.8 percent higher than 2016.

who wish to buy graded timbers from Malaysia have a choice of having their timber graded under the General Market Specification or the Special Market Specification under the Malaysian Grading Rules (MGR).

Image © MTC

the International Standards Organization, Japan Agriculture Standards, British Standards, US Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board and Harmonized European Standards for Europe. Adhesives commonly used include Urea Formaldehyde for Moisture Resistance grade, and Phenol Formaldehyde or Phenol Resorcinol Formaldehyde for Water and Boil Proof grade. Low concentrations of formaldehyde formulations ensure compliance with emission level requirements such as E0 and E1. The popular Malaysian timbers used for plywood production include Bintangor, Dark Red Meranti, Kelempayan, Keruing, Mengkulang, Sepetir and Yellow Meranti.

*For a list of Malaysian suppliers of timber and timber products, and to learn more about Malaysian timber species, please contact the Malaysian Timber Council (www.mtc.com.my)

Reasons Why Malaysian Timbers are the Preferred Choice!

Sustainable Renewable Versatile Durable Diverse

Malaysian timbers, exported to more than 160 countries, have continued to be favoured and featured in building applications in various parts of the world. The remarkable performance characteristics of many Malaysian timbers have allowed architects and designers to feature timber in extraordinarily imaginative ways and time-transcending designs that match beauty with functionality.

To learn more about Malaysian timbers and timber products, please visit www.mtc.com.my

SUSTAINABLE

PROGRESSIVE

ROBUST

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Atmos reveals new rippling timber staircase that spirals organically through hotly-anticipated new Mayfair restaurant Natural palette, playful imagination, and powerful aesthetic influence the design of ‘StairStalk’

Image © Joel Knight

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Image © Atmos

Image © Atmos

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Hedonism Wines and Michelinstarred super-chef Ollie Dabbous recently launched their new joint venture - the three storey HIDE restaurant at #85 Piccadilly, widely regarded as the most anticipated London restaurant opening of the year. Atmos were commissioned to design and deliver the exuberant centerpiece staircase that weaves between the three levels of experience at HIDE (bar below; informal a-la-carte dining at ground level; and elegant tasting menu above).

The stair’s design creates a plant-like structure that grows like an irrepressible life-force from beneath, bursting from the shadows of the basement towards the daylight above. It twists upwards, spiraling energetically like a corkscrew, steps unfurling seamlessly from the structural stem like leaves, while further branches similarly delaminate to

form a delicate wavy balustrade guiding the guests carefully upwards.

‘StairStalk’ finally unfurls at the first floor level, as if reuniting with its vast family of arboreal brethren in Green Park opposite - nestling just beyond the full-height panoramic glazing fronting Piccadilly. Like a wild plant pulsing insistently upwards and outwards between the comparatively restrained geometry of its surrounding architecture, it at last comes to rest once its conveyancing role is accomplished, merging gently into the walls that contain it.

Nature

Its entire surface is made of European Oak, like a green plant grown woody with age, thus naturalizing amidst the restaurant’s family of wider oak furniture. The main structure was

Image Š Atmos

Image Š Atmos

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layered from glued slices of thin oak veneer, laid and laminated together against curved molds and then hand-sanded into shape to form an elaborately-curving timber structure whose visible grain magically follows its path.

This structure encapsulates the thicker slabs of more familiar wide oak floorboards forming the upper and lower surface of each tread, thus echoing the fields of parallel oak floorboards at the uppermost treads of each flight.

The evolving design took its cue from the natural palette, playful imagination, and powerful aesthetic developed by both the interior designer and the project client. This love of nature is further echoed in Ollie Dabbous’s showcasing of natural ingredients; his reinvention of familiar vegetables; even the stunning culinary presentation of delicately curling leaves and petals and

other botanicals. Another crucial influence was more mystical and whimsical and relates to the perceived magic that underpins all nature - especially the world of childhood fairy-tales, in whose fertile soils the stair first took root.

Geometry

The stair begins in the basement as a simple concave step, indented to invite the user into its folds, which then curl back to mold into the surrounding fibers of the stringers trammeling it either side as they travel along the enclosing walls either side. From there the central indent flips to become an increasingly protruding curve whose sequence aggregates to imply a central speedier ridge that the speedier guests can quickly ascend, while the remaining indented valleys either side offer calmer, slower journeys.

The stair glides along a glazed

Image © Alex Haw,

Image © Duncan Smith

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bar wall to its left, glowing with the amber glow of sophisticate alcohols, until this cedes at the spiral’s center to a circular glassdomed beer-hop rummager, specially commissioned as a hand-turned cast-iron set of cogs that reference the distilling process - and enable the barman to rotate and access the bottles within. On its other side, the wall flanking the hidden lift undulated and protruded to magnetically inflect the stair geometry, just as both ceiling edges meeting the stair also undulated to respectfully meet it. StairStalk then lifts free of the bar wall below and its inner stringer ascends as a free-floating structural element, bearing the full weight of the entire stair structure until it docks with the mezzanine floor above.

The structure is larger and grander than it might first appear - 5 full meters in diameter, with a meter-wide void free of structure.

The inner balustrade split where it hits the ground level to form a fibrous offshoot that encircles the stair void, bifurcating to continue upwards as the main stair stem,

but also unwrapping to form the front nosing of the tread just one step up, which in turn further bifurcates to not only wrap around the edge of this first floating tread (eventually blending back into the stringer from which it sprung, its fibers morphing perfectly with the ridges of its underside), but also then rising as a robust thick strand which eventually forms the outer handrail, gliding upwards before wrapping around the wall towards the lift.

The tread geometries were assembled from pure arcs, conjoined tangentially and seamlessly at their tips, for simplicity of transcribing drawings into fabricated elements. Simple composite arcs facilitated quicker transliteration of geometry into built matter. No two lines repeat; no treads are the same; each step contributes its unique part to an ever-evolving algorithmic sequence.

Ergonomics

The lines and shapes build on Atmos’s fascination for ergonomics, and the constraints

and habits of the human body pinching or stretching the sizes of treads to reflect the range of possible human movements across them. The undulating plan pattern of the tread nosings merge multiple implicit pathways, with the intrepid and rushed able to fast-track their progress by tracking more quickly across steeper, shorter distances between more pinched contours, while the leisurely can traverse longer, shallower valley routes at a much slower pace. The balustrade stems bifurcate from their lower structural stringer to spread and give transparency to this restraining veil, before they re-converge to form a thick multifibred upper stem, which is then richly sculpted to follow the path of the human hand that grips it, as if softly gouged by thumb and fingers either side.

Colour & texture

As it journeys from basement to mezzanine, each tread lightens slightly in tone to perfectly match and align with the three main tonal values of each floor it joins. The increasingly ‘smoked’

darkness of the lower steps references the bar’s activity and essence beyond; what the interior designer Rose Murray calls “a nod to the distillation process (where) activated oak infuses alcohol, slowly transforming clear liquor into a rich amber fluid.”

The oak was slightly darkened using natural stains and oils to help reveal its grain, brushed on thicker and more richly at areas of desired contrast, which also helps facilitate optical navigation of the staircase’s heady forms.

Further, the concealed metal core, structurally required to enable the stair to float upwards free from constraint at the walls, is implicitly allowed to shimmer through briefly at the front nosings, as if like sap between a tree’s bark, flashing a golden strip of thin brass plate that wraps along the grain and provides a slightly raised texture to assure greater foothold.

Structure

The lower stair was supported by a combination of plywood and steel substructures, depending on the adjacent wall composition. The

Image © Duncan Smith

Image © Duncan Smith

Image © Alex Haw

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structural engineers Heyne Tillett Steel (HTS) created a bespoke steel deck edge at the edge of the composite concrete-and-steel slab to offer a springing point to the floating stair above.

All floating cantilevering treads above ground level were also reinforced with 10-15mm layers of stainless steel plate, which were further sheathed in structural plywood and interconnected with short, thin steel stubs (sequentially welded into place as construction progressed up the stairs) reinvigorating the structural principle under which cantilevered stone treads were traditionally supported.

Analysis showed further support was required to brace the stairs in the event of extreme loading, so smaller RHS sections were meticulously twisted and concealed into three sinuous ‘fibrous’ posts that wrapped around the outer edges of the stair and then merged into further steel secretly laced within handrail, and geometrically morphed into the outer tails of the treads. The steel core, fabricated to much lower tolerances, proved immensely challenging for the timber team to integrate, but in deploying exceptional painstaking accuracy and care, they prevailed against the odds, and its meticulous integration, junctioning and encapsulation is completely undetectable.

Fabrication

After an exhaustive global search for fabricators, the team appointed Trabczynski / GD

Image Š Duncan Smith

As the inner stringer wound its way upwards from the ground floor to the mezzanine, acting as the main structural support for a stair that appeared to fly free of its enclosing walls, intricate 3D analysis (OASYS GSA) showed the stringer was subject to enormous bending and torsional shear stresses, and the design evolved into a structural model of reinforced timber - sheathing a series of hefty RHS steels that delicately interconnected to provide the necessary structural stability - as well as dampen perceptible vibration as people ran up the stairs.

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Staircases - based in West Poland - as main contractor for the stair.

This project would have been absolutely impossible without them. Trabczynski / GD Staircases specialize in designing and building ambitious luxury staircases using a unique method of bentwood construction that enables them to achieve extraordinary curvature in a wide range of designs and types whether traditional or avant-garde.

They have pioneered a specific form of laminated veneer lumber, layering hundreds of precisely-cut shapes into contoured curved solids which have the illusion of solid wood, with the most extraordinary curving grain.

Image Š Alex Haw

Image Š Alex Haw

With almost thirty years’ experience, they have successfully delivered hundreds of high-end projects around the globe. The project team was concerned to ensure that the fabricators would attain the very high level of craftsmanship required; Trabczynski / GD Staircases won the bid when they turned up to a meeting with a stunning, immaculately-carved full-scale timber mock-up of one of the treads stashed in their checkedin luggage. The unprecedented 3-dimensional complexities of the project forced them to pioneer completely new team workflows, fabrication methodologies and design-data communication strategies.

Mikolaj Trabczynski, their CEO, spent over 4,000 hours over the duration of the project managing the translation of data from the designers as well as overseeing and sometimes fully participating in - the fabrication; his brother and a colleague collectively spent 10,000 hours, working late into the night on both management and fabrication aspects; up to 9 other men worked on the stair at any other given time. Their level of craftsmanship was exquisite and painstaking. The communications between the design and fabrication teams were rapid and intensive; Mikolaj notes with some shock that the project amassed more than 2,000 email threads.

After extensive surveying of the site and cross-checking of dimensions, it was built as a single prefabricated element, split into

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The treads were reinforced with 3.5m3 of plywood - the only items to be digitally cut by CNC machine, while everything else was traced and cut by hand. All this timber was glued together with over half a tonne of bespoke polyurethane glue using a pioneering new chemical that took weeks to harden. This unique new glue then actually stiffens the timber alongside the steel; the strength of the composite timber and glue substructure contributed to the

stability of the whole, augmenting the traditional steel structure.

Wider context

Atmos were commissioned to contribute to a project that was already highly developed and atmospheric by the time they came on board. They designed a project that grew with its neighbors, nestling and interacting with them. The stair germinates in the bar, where its tendrils flow out from niches in the wall; junctions between floor and wall; bar footrails, and even the magnificent slabs of burr wood from the bar top, which they appear to momentarily tame as they then bunch into fibers that thrust upwards.

Rose Murray, founder of These White Walls (the concept and interior designer for the wider restaurant), describes how the restaurant centers on “the theme of Dwelling”, and how “the dual narratives of the Hide-as-Home and the Hide-as-Hidden have been intertwined spatially throughout

the interior; (how) the interior scheme is a re-imagining of the familiar.” Much of her work entailed innovative commissioning of artists to create new spatial works for the design of the interior, infusing it with added cultural depth.

Atmos’s contribution is partly a simple staircase - a means to move upwards from A to Z - but partly also its complete reinvention, with all components magically merging; verticals melting into horizontals; a handrail swooping downwards and deforming to suddenly become the sole thing supporting you beneath your feet; the entirety an opportunity to explore new ways of physically inhabiting space.

The stair celebrates movement, energy, and a kind of graceful restlessness - a companion piece to what Murray describes as the wider restaurant’s “whole new expression of inhabited space, where the uncanny of the everyday that surrounds us is continually revealed.”

Project Name: StairStalk

Client:

HIDE Restaurant

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Architects: Atmos

Fabricators:

Trabczynski / GD Staircases

Photography: Alex Haw Joel Knight Duncan Smith Phil Watson

Image © Alex Haw

two lifts because of the limitations of their warehouse's roof height.

It took 8 journeys to ship it by land across Europe to the restaurant, where 6 men worked day and night to splice and connect its components, mask and sand the junctions between elements, and stain and finish the entire piece.

Altogether the project laminated 4,500 m2 of thin oak veneers for the main structure, and 150 m2 of thick 5mm+ oak veneers for sheathing the tops of the treads (as well as any undersides of the exposed series).

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Interloop: connecting yesterday and tomorrow Artwork is a physical interpretation of the historical, wooden-stepped Wynyard escalators

Image © Studio Chris Fox

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Image © Studio Chris Fox

Image © Studio Chris Fox

Image © Studio Chris Fox

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For over 80 years the Wynyard escalators have been a well-used and well-loved piece of urban infrastructure. In this time, countless commuters have travelled up and down these escalators. Countless paths cross at this point in space where, in the hustle of urban life, many passengers take pause. For many, the impressive physical form of the staircase in motion captures the imagination to conjure ideas of journey and travel, start and finish, here and there as well as past and future.

First installed in 1931, the historic wooden escalators at Wynyard station have served Sydney’s commuters for over eight decades. This year they were removed. Now the iconic timber-structure have been reborn - as a sculpture. Australian contemporary artist and sculptor Chris Fox unveiled a major sitespecific installation suspended from the ceiling above a bank of escalators inside Wynyard Station in Sydney’s CBD. Whilst paying homage to the past, the installation also, simultaneously,

However, the old wooden steps of Wynyard were heritage listed and given a second life by Chris, who turned them into the Interloop signifies the future.

The Wynyard and Town Hall Stations in Sydney had some of the last remaining wooden escalators in the world. The Wynyard escalators were removed in January 2017 and the Town Hall ones only a few months later in August of the same year. Both were replaced with steel steps because of safety - wooden steps are a significant fire risk and the claws of Guide Dogs get stuck in the wooden treads. However, the old wooden steps of Wynyard were heritage listed and given a second life by Chris, who turned them into the Interloop.

Interloop, is a hovering sculpture that loops together two pairs of reconfigured heritage escalators measuring more than 50 meters in length and incorporating 244 wooden escalator treads and 4

escalator combs from the historic Wynyard escalators. The looped form alludes to a continuity between past and present symbolized by the stair. Further, the sculpture involves the crossover of these winding paths and this is analogous to the crossing of paths by commuters.

“Interloop was a competition that Transport for NSW ran and I was invited along with two other artists to pitch a proposal for Wynyard Station for the escalators of York Street. The old escalators were getting removed and they wanted to work with some parts of the old escalators to develop a heritage interpretation project.

The competition asked these three artists to work with these heritage treads and either some other components of the escalators,” said Fox.

“My first proposal really avoided that and actually proposed something pretty ambitious that was floating above the escalators and that then started a whole conversation in the competition stage where it was sort of outside of what they had initially said but they started to like the idea and then we started to work together and then I re-pitched it again, something larger that was on the lower section and then that enabled me to win the competition and then I went through from there and started to develop the project in more detail,” added Fox. With its unveiling, commuters once again start to engage with Wynyard’s historic escalators, this time not below their feet but above their heads. The impressive scale of the sculpture allows the passengers to appreciate the looping form as they travel along their journey. The sculpture re-uses existing heritage timber treads of hardwood and plywood with a new steel stringer subframe. The materiality of the heritage treads may trigger the

Image © Studio Chris Fox

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Fox commented: “Connecting yesterday and tomorrow, ‘Interloop’ interrogates the conceptual and material boundaries between art and architecture. It is a physical re-interpretation of the historic wooden-stepped Wynyard escalators initially built in 1931, that re-purposes the hardwood from the heritage treads of now retired escalators, into a sculpture weighing over five tonnes.”

Taking 6 months to design and engineer, the sculpture took 12 weeks to fabricate with over a kilometer of welding, before an intensive 48-hour installation period. Interloop is built from high strength marine grade aluminum and suspended via new steel beams installed into Wynyard Station. The

wooden treads from the original escalators have been refastened to the accordion like aluminum surface.

According to Fox, at the point when they were just about to start fabrication in August last year, a strict timeframe for installation was decided with a 48-hour installation over one weekend, rather than over a couple of weeks. As such, Fox and his team had to go back to the drawing board and rethink completely how they were doing this project: the key was having pre-assembled parts that would bolt together efficiently on site.

Interloop floats above the heads of commuters as they travel on the escalators linking York Street to the main concourse level of Wynyard Station. With the repurposing of the wooden treads the sculpture aims to evoke memories of passengers and modes of travel from the past while conjuring complimentary ideas of journey and travel, start and finish, here and there, as

well as past and future.

“The old escalators had been there for over eighty years and before they were removed they held this sense of time and journeys, of time and travel. Interloop resembles, in part, the original escalators but something else is occurring, too: there’s this otherworldly space that occurs above people’s heads. Also, I wanted to explore the idea that people are stationary on an escalator whilst also travelling. The escalator allows for a moment of pause that occurs mid-motion. I wanted the sculpture to resonate with people in this state, to reference all those journeys that have passed and are now interlooping back,” added Fox. “With large scale public sculpture there’s a lot at stake. Interloop, in particular, has a really nice marriage of the two skills: the stairs have a very architectural component, but the way I have manipulated the form and the steps is sculptural and artistic,” concluded Fox.

Project Name: Interloop

Client:

Transport for NSW

Location:

Sydney, Australia

Completion: December 2017

Architect:

Studio Chris Fox

Photography: Studio Chris Fox

Image © Studio Chris Fox

memory of passengers who had previously travelled on the historic Wynyard escalator and capture the imagination of those future passengers who never saw the historic escalator before.

Image © Admares

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Admares delivers floating villas made from Finnish ThermoWood for Marasi Water Homes project Marasi Water Homes is the first phase of a series of developments for the Dubai Water Canal

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Admares, a leading specialist in floating construction from Finland, has recently completed delivery of ten ‘floating’ water homes, two restaurants and a yacht club as part of its contract with Dubai Properties for the Marasi Business Bay project. Located along the Dubai Water Canal, Marasi Business Bay is set to become a major future landmark in Dubai. The development presents the region’s first purpose-built yachting destination, floating restaurants and cafes, 5 marinas, over 1,250 berths, onshore boutiques and entertainment facilities. It also includes the longest waterside promenade in Dubai, spanning almost 12km.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Image © Admares

The Marasi Water Homes is a turnkey project for Dubai

Properties Group, and includes ten water homes, two restaurants and an exclusive yacht club, all of which are state-of-the-art floating buildings. These unique architectural structures were exclusively manufactured by Finnish company Admares at their purpose-built facilities located in Rauma, Finland before they were transported to Dubai and finally towed at Marasi Business Bay. Equipped with the latest technology, the state-of-the-art buildings are the UAE’s first water homes that will feature both pedestrian and boat access, are located at the

heart of the marina taking shape at Marasi Business Bay and set to become the development’s main architectural trait.

The water homes give the appearance of floating, but they are anchored to the canal base. Admares was responsible for designing and building the homes at its specialist facility in Finland before they were transported to the UAE. As a specialist in floating construction, the company also built the new Terrace at the front of Burj Al Arab. Work on first units for the project began in October 2016 and delivery via sea was completed earlier

Admares was responsible for designing and building the homes at its specialist facility in Finland before they were transported to the UAE

this year.

“Our objective is to create unique, innovative and environmentally friendly real estate products, utilising ground breaking, multidisciplinary off-site construction technology,” said Mikael Hedberg, Chief Executive of Admares.

“We started at the top with our first project in the UAE, working with Jumeirah and Dubai Holding for the Burj Al Arab Terrace.

Having successfully delivered the new resort extension - the biggest-ever undertaking of its kind in the world - we now have another project where the client was looking to create a landmark development with a high degree of innovation and quality.”

The exterior facade of the floating villas is made from Finnish ThermoWood. The trademark is a sign of wood

Image © Admares

Image © Admares

Image © Admares

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products manufactured via a thermal modification process developed in Finland. The material is produced by using natural methods, heat and steam. No chemical additives are used in the ThermoWood production process. Thermal modification improves the wood’s technical properties.

ThermoWood is non-toxic, dimensionally stable, resistant to decay and resin free. After thermal modification, the moisture content of the wood decreases to around 4-6 percent.

As a result, ThermoWood does not react to changes in humidity as drastically as untreated wood.

In practice, this means that ThermoWood is dimensionally stable and retains its shape far better than untreated wood.

removed from the wood during the thermal modification process.

As a result, the wood does not secrete resin even in high temperatures. The outcome of thermal modification process is high-quality wood product, which can be used inside or outdoors, in any climate. Examples of potential end-uses are facades, decking, solar shades, interiors, spas and saunas, frames and bearers. The visual appearance of ThermoWood is similar to tropical hardwoods. Produced from certified forests, Finnish ThermoWood is a sustainable option, when this kind of appearance is desired. The color of the wood is affected by the treatment temperature and time - the higher the temperature, the darker the appearance.

An added benefit of ThermoWood is that resin is

“Finnish Thermowood is an excellent choice for Middle

Eastern markets as it is proven to work well in different climate conditions and has good weather endurance. Wooden surfaces also give cities, usually based very much on concrete and steel, warm and pleasant atmosphere.

Wood makes cities livelier, more vivid and creates an overall better environment for living,” added Juha Peltomäki, Program Director, Wood from Finland.

Dubai Properties and its parent company Dubai Holding announced the launch of the Dh1 billion Marasi Business Bay in May 2016. In total, the multiphase project is expected to take between five and seven years to complete. It will eventually house five marinas capable of berthing 700 yachts, a yacht club, up to 200 water homes, more than 100 shops, floating restaurants and a beach club.

Project Name:

Marasi Water Homes

Client:

Dubai Properties

Location: Dubai, UAE

Completion: 2018

Architect: U+A

Contractor: Admares

Photography: Admares

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The mass-timber revolution is coming, says Clare Farrow

Image Š PLP Architecture

"If urban densification is inevitable, then let it be done with a material that makes us happy"

COMMENT 39

Revolution is in the air. In this year of centenaries - remembering the end of the Russian Revolution and the success of the British suffrage movement in getting votes for women in 1918 - the world of architecture, engineering and construction is experiencing its own, quieter form of revolution: the rise of mass timber as an alternative to the dominance of concrete and steel.

It is a challenge to the status quo, a desire to improve urban lives and the environment too, and a recognition that something urgently has to change. Perhaps surprisingly for a revolution, the material chosen is the most ancient one of all. Urban densification is both a reality and a necessity. By 2050, the world's population is projected to reach 9.8 billion, with around 70 percent of people living in cities, and increasing numbers experiencing poverty and inequality.

As urban areas become more densely occupied and land prices soar, it seems that the only choice is to build upwards. New luxury towers built of concrete, steel and glass present exciting and symbolic visions of this future, a penetration of the clouds. But there is also a flip-side.

Image Š White Arkitekter

The problem is that cities already account for 75 percent of global pollution and consumption of nonrenewable resources. In the UK for

example, the energy consumed in the construction and operation of the built environment accounts for almost half of the country's carbon dioxide emissions.

In addition to the statistics are the realities of human nature and psychology: tower blocks are often associated with poverty, social problems, dangers and isolation, more so now than ever following the tragedy and scandal of Grenfell Tower. People innately fear a loss of privacy, individuality, and contact with nature, and equally the prospect of being forced out of cities as the cost of

the horrors of the second world war meant that building wooden structures in densely packed urban areas was unthinkable.

Only towards the end of the 20th century did perceptions begin to change, and architects again start to explore the potential of wood.

Experiments with engineered timber, including crosslaminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam), were initially driven by reports on climate change and the understanding that wood can absorb and store carbon dioxide

Only towards the end of the 20th century did perceptions begin to change, and architects again start to explore the potential of wood buying or renting becomes more and more inaccessible.

In this context, it may seem extraordinary to be proposing a material that was itself rejected in the modern age, precisely because of fear and prejudice.

Disasters such as the 1871 Great Fire of Chicago changed the perception of wood overnight, paving the way for the rise of industrial materials and the first skyscrapers; Stalin ordered the destruction of wooden housing, which the Bolsheviks associated with a Tsarist past; and in Japan,

to an almost magical degree.

Convinced that large-scale CLT panels - assembled according to the principles of plywood, using timber from responsibly managed forests - could be structurally sound and safe at height, a small number of architects, scientists and engineers began to push the possibilities of this new material.

In doing so, they discovered that timber has more to offer than its carbon credentials alone.

Wood has a combination of lightness and tensile strength

that nature excels at mastering.

It is five times lighter than concrete, and yet it has comparable strength-perweight ratio. This lightness combined with wood's thermal performance, and the fact that the vast panels retain the natural grain and even scent that is so familiar to us - has led architects and engineers to consider how mass timber might be used for urban densification.

While the press has largely focused on the almost dreamlike concept of wooden skyscrapers - put forward in scientifically-backed research and competition proposals such as Baobab, for Paris, by Michael Green Architecture, and PLP Architecture's concept for a timber skyscraper at London's Barbican. Intentionally "provocative", according to the architects, these proposals are designed to test public and media response, however, the timber debate is much more far-reaching than a simple competition for height.

Because of the material's lightness - Kevin Flanagan of PLP likens CLT to the carbon fiber used in aeroplane wings mass timber can be used to build on top of other structures. This opens up all kinds of exciting, vertical-layering possibilities by adding density to existing buildings instead of requiring

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new land.

Moreover, its lightness means that neglected brownfield sites, over old Victorian sewers for example, can be considered as land for vertical housing.

Waugh Thistleton Architects demonstrated this at Dalston Lane, in London. Built from CLT, the building could rise taller than was ever thought feasible due to the lightness of timber in comparison to concrete.

In fact, Andrew Waugh's argument is that we don't necessarily need to be thinking of wooden skyscrapers in London, however seductive the concept is, but rather of increasing density across the board. He is thinking more in terms of 10-15 storey buildings, which many believe to be the comfortable height for human beings. What is needed, he argues, is a broader political understanding of the potential of engineered timber.

Image Š Acton Ostry Architects Inc

Timber towers can also be

ingeniously inserted into awkward, narrow urban spaces that are impossible for other materials.

PLP Architecture explored this idea in a proposal called Timber Tower 2 in the Netherlands, and in doing so evolved a new type of load-bearing structure inspired by basket weave, unlike anything that could be built in concrete and steel.

This is the point that timber advocates such as TED speaker Michael Green are making: it's still very early days for CLT and other forms of engineered timber, in spite of their ancient origins.

The material itself will soon drive new, revolutionary types of architecture, aided by the accuracy of prefabrication methods and the consequent speed and lack of waste of on-site construction.

The process is quiet, fast and nontoxic, as Waugh describes, "the people who are working on site are in these environments that are pine-scented, not toxic, and the productivity and happiness we see

is remarkable. We need to rethink the way we build, in terms of architecture and construction."

Waugh, who lives in a CLT house himself, is also persuasive about the benefits to residents' health, which will have huge implications for urban densification, given the urgent concerns about mental health in cities, its impact on the economy, and the possibility of this worsening.

"It's a beautiful environment to live in. It's calmer, more serene, and you sleep better. Our house is never hot and never cold. It feels like it shapes itself around you. It feels organic," he says.

Studies are showing that the presence, scent and touch of wood can have remarkably positive effects, not only on people's wellbeing in a general sense, but more specifically on stress levels, blood pressure, communication, learning and healing.

It makes perfect sense, especially

when timber towers incorporate balconies and planting systems, that a sense of alienation in vertical living becomes less of an issue when a contact with nature and its materials are maintained. As Japanese architect Kengo Kuma recently said, "wood is my friend".

In the first half of the 20th century, Alvar Aalto, who brought a warmth of touch to Modernism, commented that wood is "a form-inspiring, deeply human material". If urban densification is inevitable, then let it be done with a material that makes us intuitively happy, as well as benefitting the planet and specifically the air, which after all, we share with trees. *This article was first published by Dezeen in February 2018 and has been written by Clare Farrow, co-curator of Timber Rising: Vertical Visions for the Cities of Tomorrow along with Studio Woode. The exhibition was on show at the Roca London Gallery from 9 February to 19 May 2018.

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Toronto to get 12-storey timber tower dubbed ‘The Arbour’

Image © Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Moriyama & Teshima Architects + Acton Ostry Architects win George Brown College design competition

Image © DFA

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Image © Moriyama & Teshima Architects

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George Brown College recently announced that Moriyama & Teshima Architects + Acton Ostry Architects Open have been selected to design and build The Arbour - moving one step closer towards the construction of Ontario’s first tall wood, low carbon institutional building.

Poised to transform the Toronto skyline, the team’s eye-catching design for the planned facility features breathing rooms using solar chimney systems to capture and harness light and air for sustainable natural ventilation. The building design also offers flexibility of learning spaces, enabling walls to expand and contract as needed, as well as a ‘Made in Canada’ approach using nationally sourced mass wood components.

The jury selected the winner local firm Moriyama & Teshima

The Arbour, a 12-storey mass timber building at its Waterfront Campus, will mark an important step forward in Canadian mid-rise wood structures and will be the first project of its kind in Ontario Architects with Vancouver’s Acton Ostry Architects - from amongst a pool of strong proposal, including one from Japanese Pritzker winner Shigeru Ban with Toronto’s Brook McIlroy; a second by Vancouver’s Patkau Architects with locals MJMA; and a third by Montreal firm Provencher Roy and Turner Fleischer. According to a statement by the College, The Arbour, a 12-storey mass timber building at its Waterfront Campus, will mark an important step forward in Canadian midrise wood structures and will be the first project of its kind in

Ontario.

The Arbour has been designed as a landmark, tall wood, low-carbon building that will feature ecological innovation across its entire life cycle and be a model for 21st Century smart, sustainable, green building innovation throughout Canada. To support this vision, the proposed design for The Arbour is deceptively simple, straightforward and, above all else, smart. The design of The Arbour enhances connections to neighboring developments and the natural spaces offered

by Sherbourne Common and the Water’s Edge Promenade.

The soaring solar chimney signals the sustainable systems within, while the angled apex of the Tall Wood Institute speaks to future advancement of tall wood technologies and development of low carbon building methodologies.

A triple-storey atrium and ascending seat-stairs rise alongside Martin Goodman Trail and Queens Quay East tells the story of tall wood transformed through the absence of sections of CLT, strategically revealing the secrets of a multi-layered, mass wood superstructure system. The building form has been shaped and refined to maximize access to natural light and fresh air. Two solar chimneys located on the east and west facades create natural

convection, drawing air up and through the building to ensure that air flow from operable windows is continually refreshed.

The solar chimneys provide the driving force to draw air through the building by absorbing the solar heat gain in wooden shade elements to create the stack effect.

program uses are free to change and departments to shift.

According to the design team, they seek to inspire big changes through a careful and considered buildup of small ones. The design instills generous spaces for wellbeing and sustainability into The Arbour, whose very name evokes green growth and shelter.

The plan is organized using a tartan grid to establish three parallel bars of programmable space separated by a narrow line of circulation. The mass wood structure is laid out on a seven by nine meter grid. The outer bars house classrooms, labs and administrative offices, where an outward outlook is desirable. The large span, beamless structure, enables demising walls to expand and contract, providing flexibility of sizes for a variety of learning spaces. Over time,

The Arbour is testament to the commitment to sustainable development by George Brown College. The overall aim is to construct a net-positive building, one that will be flexible and future proof, equipped with smart building systems that are networked, intelligent and adaptable. The building will also be designed to adjust to changing academic uses and a changing climate. Construction of this exciting new $130-million building is scheduled to begin

Image © Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Image © Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Image © Moriyama & Teshima Architects

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in 2021 at the southeast corner of Queens Quay East and Lower Sherbourne Street, across from the Daphne Cockwell Center for Health Sciences at Waterfront Campus.

According to George Brown College, The Arbour will be home to the Mass Timber Institute so that experience, ideas and research in low-carbon, mass timber construction can be shared. The building will also house George Brown's School of Computer Technology. Once the project is constructed, students and researchers will learn to design, construct, operate and monitor climate-friendly buildings. Overall, The Arbour will serve as an educational and research hub, and will also be home to a new child care facility to serve the growing East Bayfront community.

Project Name: The Arbour

Client:

George Brown College

Location:

Toronto, Canada

Architects:

Moriyama & Teshima Architects + Acton Ostry Architects

Photography:

Moriyama & Teshima Architects

Image Š Homag

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TECHNOLOGY 47

HOMAG presents its latest cutting-edge innovations at HOLZ-HANDWERK 2018 Innovations promise a boost in efficiency by means of automation and networking From March 21 - 24, 2018, the woodworking industry gathered at HOLZ-HANDWERK in Nuremberg.

The main focus was on machines and software solutions that increase efficiency by means of automation and networking particularly for small and mediumsized businesses. Multiple process innovations awaited visitors at the HOMAG stand. The innovations promised a boost in efficiency by means of automation and networking.

New machine design, new product names

At Nuremberg this year, the group celebrated the premiere of the new, group-wide revised market image with the new slogan ‘YOUR SOLUTION’. And the message behind the slogan? At HOMAG, the sole focus of activity is on the customer and their personal requirements. To meet this aim optimally, the wide product range of the group was made even more customer-oriented worldwide.

This includes a contemporary new machine design for all products and new, harmonized product names. This will allow HOMAG customers to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

SAWTEQ B-200 saw brings power to the trade

As an example of this new simplicity, at the trade fair HOMAG exhibited a lifting table saw (previously HPL) that brings more power to the trade: the SAWTEQ B-200. The compact saw supplements the former 2 series from HOMAG, which previously consisted solely of a saw without a lifting table (previously the HPP 200). Now, the customer only needs to remember one name even though the wide range of options is growing. Whether it

is an HPP 200 or HPL 200, the popular HOMAG entry-level model in the horizontal panel dividing saw class is simply called SAWTEQ B-200 - regardless of whether it includes automatic feeding via the lifting table.

saw can also be equipped with 95 mm saw blade projection – in addition to the already existing options of 60 or 80 mm saw blade projection.

In both versions, the machines have a saw blade projection of 60 mm - with higher projection optionally available. However, the saw with integrated lifting table is technically capable of substantially higher throughput. It can be fed by forklift truck, with entire books of panels that are then singly and automatically pushed onto the rear machine table for the cutting process. That saves time, improves the ergonomics and speeds up the production process.

In the age of digitalization, innovative cutting technologies are not the only things that count. Software has long played a decisive role, and HOMAG also presented a lot of exciting new software solutions at HOLZHANDWERK. One highlight was the ultra-modern CADmatic 5 saw controller. Almost all HOMAG panel dividing saws delivered after the trade fair are now fitted with this saw controller - from the small SAWTEQ B-130 (previously HPP 130) right up to the top model SAWTEQ B-600 (previously HKL 600).

Visitors were also impressed by the many additional equipment options, including the destacking module LITE, which was launched for the SAWTEQ B-200 at HOLZ-HANDWERK. It features an integrated assistance graphic that unerringly always indicates the correct destacking location, highlighting it in color. In addition, anyone that needs support during cutting can choose intelliGuide basic. With this option, which is available now for the SAWTEQ B-200, LED signals at the cutting line show the operator the next work steps directly on the saw.

The operator does not have to look at the monitor as much and can work more smoothly and with fewer errors.

Instead of the 600 mm wide air cushion tables, the SAWTEQ B-200 can alternatively be equipped with 800 mm wide ones for improved ergonomics when handling large or heavy panels. To increase output even further, the

CADmatic 5 - the ultramodern saw controller

In the new version 5, the highend software uses innovative powerTouch operation and appealing graphical assistance displays to ensure totally intuitive operation and quick, easy handling. What makes the assistance display so special is that it no longer shows what the machine is currently doing, but thinks from the point of view of the machine operator, who can always see the next work step on the flat screen monitor until this steps has been executed, thereby ensuring greater ease of operation.

intelliDivide - the optimization ‘software as a service’ based on tapio

From creating cutting patterns to managing tools and retrieving individual material parameters, intelligent and cleverly networked software solutions are essential

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updates with intelliDivide. intelliDivide allows for automatic calculation of various alternatives; easy comparison of optimization results; and automatic transfer of the machine configuration (if the saw is connected to tapio).

As a low-cost introduction to optimization, intelliDivide even works without CADmatic 5 and therefore without connecting the saw to tapio. In this case, the user downloads the results onto their computer and transmits them to the saw manually. Parallel to intelliDivide, the locally-used optimization software Cut Rite will also continue to be available but

At Nuremberg this year, the group celebrated the premiere of the new, group-wide revised market image with the new slogan ‘YOUR SOLUTION’

with even better performance than ever.

Cut Rite V10 is picking up speed

Also launched at HOLZHANDWERK was a software release with new features for Cut Rite V10. The latest version of the proven HOMAG optimization software achieves a significantly higher speed, particularly in nesting tasks. On average, the results are displayed twice as fast. There are further benefits and simplifications for data handling, for example. With the new software release, customers also benefit from optimizations in cutting. Here, there are improvements in labeling and reporting, as well as with regard to the algorithm. Significantly, following HOLZ-HANDWERK, the new release is now available free of charge to all customers with an update and service contract.

Image © Homag

Image © Homag

The option of connecting the saw to the ‘tapio ecosystem’ is the foundation for using innovative, cloud-based high-performance software. HOMAG presented an example of this at the trade fair in Nuremberg, arousing the interest of numerous visitors.

Dubbed intelliDivide, the cloudbased optimization software features significantly higher computing capacities and can swiftly provide the user with several alternative optimization results. Users can then access these alternatives to meet the

needs of the situation at hand.

When using intelliDivide, in addition to a purely waste-based result, the operator can also select other alternatives, such as results based on the shortest machine time or the simplest handling - to ideally suit the specific requirements. The high computing power in the cloud ensures that the result, with considerably better key figures, is quickly available. One of the main advantages of intelliDivide is not having to require local hardware intelliDivide works independently of the operating system (Internet access is all that is needed). In addition, users do not have to worry about maintenance or

Image © Homag

in the manufacturing processes along the value chain in the woodworking trade. That is why all HOMAG saws have been tapio-ready for some time.

However, since the HOLZHANDWERK trade fair, this is now also the case for entry-level saws - SAWTEQ B-130 and SAWTEQ B-200.

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Al-Ghamdi Wood: Saudi ‘King’ of doors chooses SCM Technologies

Image © SCM

Manufacturer selects SCM’s NC Accord 25 FX machining center to increase productivity and meet demand for increasingly custom-made products

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Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi, President of Al-Ghamdi Wood of Dammam, is a leading light in Saudi Arabia for the production of doors, closets, kitchen cabinets and other wood works. A ‘global and local’ businessman at the same time, he is closely linked to his land and its traditions. Al-Ghamdi is the force behind a project - Al-Ghamdi Wood Industries Company LTD - that is providing a significant contribution in creating development and new employment opportunities in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia, well known for its oil and gas production, also boasts other strong economic sectors, and he is the leader in his sector.

Al-Ghamdi is also a man with a strong attraction for everything originating from the West, particularly when it comes to technological advancements.

It was no surprise then that in the autumn of 2016 he decided to visit Italy, Rimini to be precise, and the headquarters of the world leader in secondary

woodworking technology: SCM. Accompanied by Roberto Vitri, SCM Group Regional Manager Middle East and India, and Diego Piersanti, Sales Manager of SCM Group Middle East, the Saudi entrepreneur wanted to see SCM’s most appreciated CNC machining centers up close.

For his custom doors and furniture, Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi put his trust in innovation Made in Italy.

Particularly attentive to the latest advances and digital technologies, he chose SCM’s NC Accord 25 FX machining center, to increase productivity and meet his customers’ demands for increasingly custom-made products. His decision was based on the fact that the Accord 25 FX marries high technology performance with maximum simplicity of use, for the production of doors, stairs, frames and solid wood parts and to machine panels in wood and other materials.

Al-Ghamdi Woods Industries is

a thirty-strong company, between offices, woodworking workshop and painting department. Its production is exclusively focused on wood: from pure solid wood to plywood, from MDF board to blockboards. These carefully selected precious materials, along with an attentive and innovative design, have increased the company’s standing and appreciation for its production of extremely high-quality doors. More recently, Al-Ghamdi and his staff are seeing a strong rise in requests for custom furniture.

The company carries out all stages of the production process in-house, from selecting and preparing the materials to the assembly, including the panel sizing, sanding (all with SCM machines) and the more specific operations on the Accord 25 FX, which is one of the most important technologies in their production phase, according to AlGhamdi. Amongst the advantages of the Accord 25 FX, the Saudi entrepreneur points out the possibility of reducing the manual

work, being able to program and obtain a more precise preview of the finished product, and render a broader and more varied range of finished products.

“Using advanced technology has undoubtedly allowed us to increase our productivity. In particular thanks to the CNC machining center we have considerably reduced the cycle times as well as the waste of raw materials,” adds Al-Ghamdi. “The manual work is still important, but less incisive than before. Before we purchased a CNC machining center, we did some of the panel sizing, sanding and accessorial operations by hand, as well as the lock grooves, concealed door closers and hinges. All these operations are now performed by the Accord 25 FX. Currently the only phases that are still done by hand are the assembly and the finish of the components.”

Al-Ghamdi doesn’t have any doubts about the potential of advanced technologies. He says: “Companies will increasingly

invest in technology to optimise their productivity and quality, as well as to develop a wider range of custom products”.

But why invest in technologies ‘Made in Italy’ in particular?

When posed the question, Al-Ghamdi said: “For their high level of innovation, quality and for the high level of after sales support, guaranteed through the SCM Partner in Saudi Arabia (Saudi Industrial Machinery Co. - SIMCO) and through the technical staff of SCM Group Middle East in Dubai (UAE).

For us it’s important to find concrete and quick answers in technical support with highly skilled professionals. This is another one of the reasons that made us choose SCM. Based on our experience with SCM and SIMCO, we can say that we have found a reliable and fast response in terms of service and maintenance. It’s lucky that the Group is present in the Gulf and the dedication of the SCM service staff is truly praiseworthy.”

Image © SCM Image © SCM

Image © SCM

Image © SCM

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Image © Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur

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Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur design collaboration blooms at Salone Del Mobile 2018 Design and craft coalesced in the Bloom cabinet, which was launched at Salone Del Mobile 2018, by Australian industrial designer Adam Goodrum and French marquetry artisan Arthur Seigneur. The piece was amongst the bold designs this year and marked the first collaboration between Goodrum and Seigneur. On display as part of this year’s Local Milan No 3 exhibition presented by Local Design at Salone Del Mobile, the Bloom Cabinet immediately garnered significant interest due to its kaleidoscopic façade and strategic location in the front of

the room.

which is perfect for today.

Inspired by the lush form of a lotus in full flower, the Bloom harnesses the exuberance of centuries-old straw inlay technique in the service of a resolutely contemporary aesthetic. Designed to draw the eye, the cabinet is a conversation piece which speaks to the significance of tradition and the spirit of collaboration.

Graphically bold, a kind of postPop mandala, the vibrant colors evoke a 1960s spirit but the delicate nature of the marquetry results in a nuanced luminosity

Hand-crafted in Sydney, Australia, the Bloom’s semicircular doors are composed of 4,320 sections of premiumgrade rye straw imported from speciality growers in Burgundy, France. Goodrum and Seigneur have devised twelve unique pigments to create a gradient of intensity across a warm spectrum: from deep noir to cobalt and violet though to fuchsia and pale rose. Individual stems of straw were selected according to texture and then infused in vats of pigment for

24 hours each. Once dried, the straws are manually split to expose their lustrous interiors, then flattened into strips which are delicately inlaid to timber panels to slowly build up pattern, texture and hue. The marquetry process of the Bloom cabinet took over 400 hours to accomplish.

In contrast to its luxuriant exterior, the chassis of the Bloom cabinet is a refined structure of hand-crafted, black-stained oak joinery. Its interior is lined in white maple, silky to the touch. This interplay of solid

geometries – the oblong and the disc – is intrinsic to the object’s timeless appeal. It marks the second collaboration between Goodrum and Seigneur and the first purpose-designed piece in their newly formed venture Adam&Arthur. A unique piece of a rare preciosity designed and hand-made in Sydney, Australia, the first of a collection, the Bloom cabinet heralds a new era in collectable antipodean design.

One of Australia’s most recognized industrial designers, Goodrum has worked with Australian brands such as Tait

and Dessein as well as international clients like Alessi, Cappellini and Norman Copenhagen. According to Goodrum, unlike Europe and the U.S., Australia isn’t really known for one-off, collectible designs, but this is something that he is interested in creating.

The formation of Adam&Arthur then represents an opportunity to create more artistic, one-off designs. Given that the Bloom Cabinet was among the covetable Australian designs in Milan this year, we hope that this is the first of many successful pieces from this unique collaboration.

Image © Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur

Image © Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur

Image © Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur

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AFRIWOOD

LESDREVTEKH

PROJECT QATAR

CARREFOUR DU BOIS

XYLEXPO

FURNITURE. INTERIOR. WOODWORKING

WOOD SOUTH CHINA

GABON WOODSHOW

May 3 - 5 Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) Nairobi, Kenya www.expogr.com/afriwood .............................................................................................

May 7 - 10 Doha Exhibition & Convention Centre (DECC) Doha, Qatar www.projectqatar.com .............................................................................................

May 8 - 12 Fiera Milano Milan, Italy www.xylexpo.com .............................................................................................

May 15 - 17 Poly World Trade Center Expo Guangzhou, China www.muyezhan.com .............................................................................................

WOODPROCESSING

May 22 - 25 Pivdennyy Expo Lwรณw, Ukraine www.galexpo.com.ua/derevo .............................................................................................

May 23 - 25 BelExpo Minsk, Belarus www.belexpo.by .............................................................................................

May 30 - June 1 La Beaujoire Exhibition Center Nantes, France www.timbershow.com .............................................................................................

June 13 - 16 Atakent Exhibition Center Almaty, Kazakhstan www.mebelexpo.kz .............................................................................................

June 20 - 22 Jardin Botanique Libreville, Gabon www.gabonwoodshow.com .............................................................................................

Design meets digital.

The new HOMAG machine generation.

We are giving the digital future an identity. To support you successfully with your challenges, all HOMAG machines are now even more intuitive to use and feature modern and unique designs. Connect your machines with the digital eco system tapio and benefit from all the advantages of cloud-based software!

www.homag.com

YOUR SOLUTION