Timber Expo is stepping up to the next level as part of UK Construction Week. Here we preview this year’s event
This year’s Timber Expo – the largest timber sector exhibition event in the UK – sees a significant change as it opens as part of the new UK Construction Week.
UK Construction Week (October 6-11), the brainchild of Media 10, is being billed as the largest construction trade event in the country, with a number of complementary shows linked together in the metropolis that is Birmingham NEC.
In all, nine different tradeshows will take place under one roof, uniting more than 55,000 visitors with 1,000 exhibitors. Visitors will have the opportunity to network with professionals from across the entire spectrum of the construction industry.
Timber Expo, taking place on October 6-8, has been established on the trade calendar, with an abundance of exhibitors signed up and a raft of prestigious event partners showing their support. Last year the event attracted some 6,000 visitors, but the organisers are targeting 11,000 this year.
Featuring over 4,500m2 of exhibition space, Timber Expo is still the only UK event dedicated solely to the timber sector and is free to attend. It is also fully supported by the industry’s leading trade groups and associations, which include BM TRADA, the Structural Timber Association (STA), the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), the Grown in Britain initiative and TRADA.
Who is exhibiting at the show?
The exhibitor list reads like a who’s who of the UK and international timber products industry.
Companies taking stands cover most areas of the timber sector, while international attendance encompasses the likes of France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Ghana, Belgium and Ireland.
Panel product exhibitors include Coillte Panel Products, Kronospan, Unilin and Tilly.
Timber treatments suppliers and fixings manufacturers are also strongly represented, while on the timber construction front there are a number of large engineered timber construction specialists such as B&K Structures, Merk Timber, Hess Timber, Wiehag and Cowley Timber & Partners.
Timber frame system suppliers include Flight Timber Products, Val-U-Therm and Just Swiss Timber Construction.
Timber suppliers Metsä Wood, Crown Timber and Vandecasteele will also be showcasing their products and services, while sawmillers Grange Fencing, Forest Garden and A&J Scott will also be exhibiting.
French Timber will lead a contingent from France, which also includes Schilliger Bois (wood and glulam) and the Scierie Lorin sawmill.
On the machinery front the likes of Hans Hundegger and JJ Smith Woodworking will be showcasing their technologies.
Coillte Panel Products is looking forward to the event.
"It’s an exciting year for Timber Expo as it joins up with the wider industry for the first time as part of UK Construction Week," said Mike Harrison, marketing manager from Coillte Panel Products.
"For us, this is a positive development as it opens the show up to a much wider audience than the timber industry alone – giving us more opportunities to interact with buyers and specifiers from across the entire built environment."
Kevin Riley, sales director from Metsä Wood, also backed the event.
"Having the opportunity to meet with our partners and customers face to face at an event like Timber Expo is absolutely vital to maintaining this closely integrated relationship."
What’s on at the show?
The organisers say the strong backing this year has led to the creation of a comprehensive and high quality seminar programme, giving visitors the opportunity to stay abreast of developments in the industry.
Several interactive feature areas will also provide face-to-face engagement opportunities at the show, for example the Toolbox Talks Theatre sponsored by DHH Timber will host a number of presentations from exhibitors about their products, systems and materials, which visitors can use as a basis for more in-depth discussion.
Another key attraction will be the Timber Buyers Forum sponsored by European timber supplier Vandecasteele Houtimport. This will host networking breakfasts and a VIP lounge, as well as organising pre-arranged appointments with active buyers.
Leading industry association TRADA will co-ordinate the Timber Focus Seminars, providing three days of seminar sessions across a broad spectrum of industry trends and issues.
"This is a fantastic opportunity to bring together professionals from around the industry to explore the exciting and creative developments taking place in the timber sector currently," said Rupert Scott, membership and marketing manager at TRADA.
"The seminars will allow us to really engage with the audience and we hope it will provide a valuable space for sharing ideas and inspiration with our industry colleagues."
The opening session will focus on increasing timber specifications, looking at the issues around securing specifications and the tools that exist to improve the process – such as TRADA’s new National Structural Timber Specification document, which will be launched in September.
The afternoon session will look at the opportunities offered by the growing self-build market, with particular input from local authorities that are taking a forward thinking approach towards encouraging and supporting this sector.
The second day begins with a discussion about pushing the boundaries of what is possible with wood.
With input from architects Waugh Thistleton and Cambridge University, the seminar will look at cutting edge techniques that have been applied in real projects.
On the final day, the morning will be dedicated to Wooden Cities, exploring the possibility of constructing whole towns and cities entirely from wood, with examples from around the world including Scandinavia and the UK.
Awards entrants put on display
In addition to the seminar content, Timber Expo will be showcasing the entrants to two leading industry awards. Now in their 12th year, the Wood Awards recognise the very best in both design and craftsmanship of wood in UK construction.
Designers and judges will present the 2015 awards shortlist followed by an audience discussion on "what does it take to win?"
Drawing entries from around the world, Wood in Architecture is organised by World Architecture News and provides an interesting complement to the UK Wood Awards.
Rounding off the seminar programme on the Thursday afternoon, this session will hear from past winners and judges on projects that have been shortlisted for 2015, plus a panel discussion with the judges on the most interesting developments in timber from around the world.
The winners will be announced over a glass of wine after this session.
Meanwhile, TRADA has teamed up with the Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) Graduate Programme at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture to create a wooden pavilion that it hopes will capture people’s imaginations at this year’s Timber Expo.
Built from 6mm and 4mm birch plywood- supplied by TRADA member Hanson Plywood – the pavilion, named The Twist, explores experimentation into twisting and bending timber to create a doubly-curved surface designed to provides interesting spatial experiences.
Once finished, the pavilion will be designed to exploit and celebrate the material behaviour of wood.
Toolbox talks theatre
DHH Timber is once again involved with Timber Expo, this year sponsoring the Toolbox Talks Theatre.
At Timber Expo in previous years DHH Timber sponsored the visitor lounge displaying Wood Award winner Worldscape by Atmos – a map of the world made entirely of White Riga Mel, (melamine-faced birch plywood) in 2013 and then in 2014 the Resting Pads Timber Expo entrance desk, made entirely from Colour Impact Melamine Faced Birch Plywood.
"We met with Timber Expo this year to discuss how we can follow on from the previous two displays and The Toolbox Feature seemed a perfect opportunity for us to showcase our products on a larger scale," said Nicola Hollington, DHH marketing director.
"The theatre will be made mainly of Latvian and Finnish birch plywood and will incorporate phenolic, lacquered and melamine faced boards in the seating area."
Once Timber Expo finishes DHH Timber’s birch plywood will still be on display at the NEC. They have supplied material for ASK AN EXPERT at Grand Designs Live 8 – 11 October, which concludes UK Construction week.
DHH has also been busy supplying material for an architectural feature at the 100% Design show (September 23-26).
