EVENTS
He tackled the main misconceptions currently in the market around building with timber , busting the myths with examples and facts / reason .
From timber being a perceived fire risk to people thinking it ’ s poorly insulated and an inferior building method , Paine busted all the myths , explaining why building with timber is actually a great choice .
PRE-MANUFACTURING
Pietro Russo , local architect , looked at ‘ The art of premanufacturing the future ’, tackling the topic of modular housing and prefabricated timber structures .
“ In recent years , the prefabrication of homes off-site has become one of the most promising developments ,” said Russo . “ All over the world , developers have begun to adopt this process with the goal of revolutionising housing .”
From simple trailers and cottages , prefab homes are now taking the designer route and are fast becoming known as ‘ the next big thing ’. He ran through some interesting projects , showing just what is possible with modular housing and highlighting the advantages of going this route . A question and answer session followed , allowing delegates to interact with the speakers of the day .
After this it was time for lunch and networking .
STUDENT TIMBER STRUCTURES
After lunch , Barry Muller , Wood Technology lecturer of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University ( NMMU )’ s George campus , shared some projects designed by his students . His talk centred around his experience of training students to use wood in timber structures . He explained how some of them designed their first structures using basic Excel !
His presentation discussed the importance of training students , the future decision makers , in the correct use of timber in structures . His course is very practical and hands on and the students have built some interesting projects over the years .
LARGEST WORLD SKIER
Jiri Oslizlo , CEO of Novatop , shared his experience of working with the Kuratle Group to put together the 62 ” tall wooden installation of a skier at the World Championships on Alpine skiing in St Moritz .
This incredible structure relied on the latest technology to design , cut and transport the various pieces of the sculpture which had to be put together in record-time as well to be ready in time for the event .
Oslizlo , with the help of Roger Kuratle showed some pictures of the various stages of the project to highlight just what an incredible feat this was !
DEGRADATION OF WOOD
Next up was Eliska Oberhofnerova of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague ’ s Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences . Her topic ‘ Surface degradation of wood exposed to external conditions in South Africa ’ looked at the Hout Bay House research project to see how the material has fared after exposure to the elements .
She explored the building materials and methods used in this project and the implications of this on the weathering
Image : Jurgen Banda-Hansmann
of the structure over a nine-month period . With the use of graphs and charts , she explained the results that compared the treated samples with the untreated ones .
The result ? “ The treated samples showed significantly more stable results than the untreated ones after nine months of weathering as expected ,” she concluded .
PREFAB AND INNOVATION
The last official speaker of the day was Professor Heinrich Köster , board member of the Wood Construction Forum in Germany . His topic was ‘ Prefabrication of wooden buildings : innovation in the areas of production and logistics ’.
He looked at the potential of prefabrication , looking at the benefits that come with building this way – in particular wood construction . Prof Köster also considered more technical detail on how to start with prefabrication and what technology is available .
“ Prefabrication is the only way to increase the productivity in the construction of wooden buildings ,” he said . “ Prefabrication has higher requirements in terms of planning and order preparation but the benefits a company can gain from this method is worth it .”
IN CONCLUSION
The speakers each received a token of appreciation for their involvement and at the end , the Kuratle family said a few words to thank Zaida Davids for her hard work in putting together the conference .
The formal presentations were followed by a few words by Elke Zwicker on her Ark Angels Educare project in the informal settlement of Overcome Heights . She invited the industry to get involved in this community project which aims to build a new day care for about 80 to 100 children on a piece of land they have obtained .
22 APRIL / MAY 2017 //