Timber shows its colours

How far can wood replace concrete and steel?" - the topic of one of the conference sessions at this year's Ecobuild - sums up the essence of the timber industry's efforts to have wood recognised as the sustainable building material.

And while the two speakers, Mike Taylor, a partner at Hopkins Architects, and Richard Harris, professor of timber engineering at the University of Bath, discuss timber's heavyweight potential during a one-hour session on the final day of the show, timber companies will be out in force on the exhibition floor.

From panel manufacturers Coillte Panel Products and Norbord, to distributors such as Arnold Laver, joinery manufacturers West Port and Arden Windows, modified timber companies Accsys Technologies and Kebony, and eye-catching applications in the Wood Awards - which will launch its call for entries for this year's competition - timber will be well represented at the March 5-7 show at London's ExCeL.

"Timber's versatility and sustainability credentials, its use in both sustainable design and construction and as a source of renewable energy makes it a vital element of Ecobuild's offering," the show organisers said.

The UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA), exhibiting on the UK Green Building Council stand, will again host two lunches, with guest speakers the government's new chief construction adviser, Peter Hansford, talking about low carbon, low cost, innovation and skills, and Professor Nick Whitehouse of Oxford Brookes University addressing the government's off-site review in housing.

"Our aim for Ecobuild 2013 is to raise awareness of the benefits of timber frame to the rest of the construction industry and to ensure that we're providing the products our customers need," said UKTFA chief executive Andrew Carpenter.

Product launches
Shows are always a platform for launching products and this year Ecobuild stalwart Steico will be revealing its range of wood fibre sarking boards. STEICOuniversal dry is predominantly for new build projects, while STEICOspecial dry is aimed at the refurbishment market.

Norbord will also be returning this year to showcase its Sterling OSB, "along with a few surprises".

The OSB will take pride of place on the company's stand and its versatility will be demonstrated with new roofing and flooring applications. Norbord will also introduce a range of solutions that meet UK Timber Frame Association fire-rating requirements for timber frame buildings.

Norbord regards Ecobuild as a good platform to raise product and brand awareness to the key audiences of housebuilders and architects and specifiers.

"It's an opportunity to meet housebuilders and architects face to face," said Norbord UK's brand manager, Mike Buick.

"In previous years there's been a lot of interest in our environmental credentials and we've talked to a lot of specifiers about OSB."

The show had quickly become the leading exhibition for the construction industry and was a useful barometer of construction industry confidence, he said.

He added that he hoped this year's show would again result in strong leads for Norbord's sales team.

Pasquill, which will exhibit on parent company Saint-Gobain's stand, also favours Ecobuild because of its visitor demographics.

"It's the ideal venue to showcase our innovative engineered timber solutions to a large and receptive audience," said Cate Gregory, head of marketing. "The show provides an opportunity for Pasquill's technical experts to discuss the company's solutions with a wide range of construction professionals."

ITW Industry agrees. "Ecobuild is a great place to talk to customers, architects and engineers," said marketing manager Tim Widdershoven.

The company first exhibited at the show in 2011, where the two-storey house showcasing its building systems generated 200 leads. After a year's break, ITW returns to Ecobuild, this time on Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Construction stand where a smaller scale ITW Space house will feature the new metal-web SpaceJoist; SpaceStud wall studs and SpaceRafter roof joists.

Oregon Timber Frame, making its first Ecobuild appearance, will also be on the Scottish Construction stand. It will be promoting its highperformance closed panel system, Oregon IP, which can already deliver to 2016 standards.

"The high performance of Oregon IP, plus the company's PEFC and FSC chain of custody, give us an attractive offering for the Ecobuild specifier audience," said sales and marketing director Elaine Wilson.

Oregon Technical Services, launched last year, will also be part of Oregon's presence. It offers an energy compliance service for all forms of standard construction, not just timber frame.

As in previous years, Ecobuild will feature some prominent timber structures.

Modified wood, Kebony, will form the show's media and visitor centre in KREOD, a pavilion first seen at Peninsula Square on Greenwich Peninsula. The sculpture comprises three pods formed from 1,000 pieces of timber and each day will host talks on its design and technology.

Kingston University architecture students will again be presenting an interpretation of a famous timber structure. Last year third-year students reconstructed Japan's 17th century Kintaikyo Bridge; this year's third years are building a 9m timber spire, a combination of Lincoln Chapter House Roof and Salisbury Cathedral's spire, which houses a timber structure.

"Our aim was to investigate a range of extraordinary timber structures around the world, each of them part of a UNESCO World Heritage site or otherwise part of a significant historic building," said senior lecturer Tim Gough.

The students' spire, made from UK larch supplied by James Jones & Sons, has been designed as a temporary installation which can be reused.

"It's hoped that the design of the spire will evolve each time it is erected. Learning from the process, improvement will be made, the structure can be extended and adapted, and repair will be implemented," said lecturer Takeshi Hayatsu.

Timber was chosen for the project, said Mr Gough, because it is a readily available, economic and robust material, flexible in use, structurally strong, adaptable, and sustainable.

Larch in particular was specified because it is grown sustainably in the UK, is an attractive timber "with a strong texture", it is economical and because of its strength and resistance to decay.

"Timber allows the students to work on a one-to-one size structure in a manner that would be impossible with any other material," said Mr Gough. "Timber can be easily fixed with a variety of methods; it can be easily cut and otherwise worked; the members can be reused if mistakes are made or if the design takes a different direction; and it has a strength in both tension and compression relative to its weight, which makes it extremely flexible in use."

Students' work will also be celebrated on TRADA's stand where the winning entry in the organisation's competition for architecture students at Oxford Brookes University will be on show.

This year's winner is Edward Gillibrand, whose interpretation of the brief to develop a geologist's jewellery box uses a single piece of beech. His 'pavilion' will also house models of the other entries in the competition, which is sponsored by Timbmet in memory of the company's founder, Dan Kemp.

TRADA's stand is also a pavilion - the plywood gridshell Giraffe Pavilion first used at Timber Expo in September last year. The structure, designed by Ramboll UK and made from birch marine plywood supplied by James Latham and machined by Timbmet, will house TRADA's seminar programme and act as the meeting point for its guided timber tours.

The 30-minute seminars, presented by TRADA Technology technical consultants, will cover controlling discolouration of cladding; modified wood innovations in cross-laminated timber; a case study of the Giraffe Pavilion; and how underfloor heating affects wood floor coverings.

Guided tours
The guided tours will take visitors around the stands of 15 TRADA and BM TRADA Q-Mark members, providing an overview of the company and a chance to hear about latest innovations. Each delegate will have a headset to be able to concentrate on the guide.

The tours take place at 11am, 12.30pm, 3.30pm and 4pm and last around 45 minutes. Places are limited to 20 per tour so TRADA advises visitors to pre-book by contacting Julie Hockin at jhockin@trada.co.uk; tel: 01494 569642.

New to Ecobuild this year is the VIP Hosted Buyers Club, a sort of matchmaking service for purchasers and suppliers. Each buyer will have the opportunity to meet up to five suppliers in pre-arranged meetings.

"Listening to our stakeholders ahead of Ecobuild 2013 the message was clear," said brand director Tom Broughton. "As an event organiser we must facilitate new ways to ensure visitors achieve maximum return on their time and exhibitors get maximum return for presence at the event."