Timber iQ December 2019 - January 2020 // Issue: 47 | Page 9

NEWS
House Pinotage
five years on
By Dineo Phoshoko
All images by Melanie and Hannu Garny design with the CLT house, it still provides a cosy and warm
atmosphere in winter and keeps nice and cool in summer. I
would even go as far as to say it is good for your soul too and it
just brings you this much closer to nature,” the couple enthuse.
Timber iQ took a trip down memory
lane and spoke to Melanie and Hannu
Garny, who own a home built from
large scale cross-laminated timber
(CLT). Maintenance of any home is important to ensure that it
remains in a good condition for many years. The Garnys say
that a timber home doesn’t have any special maintenance
requirements. However, they emphasise that it is important to
control the humidity slightly, not only for the house, but also
for the health and wellbeing of people living in any kind of
house. “More important than ongoing maintenance is proper
planning, design and solutions of technical details as well as
construction work done by professional teams.”
T While timber construction has a relatively small footprint in
South Africa, with its host of environmental and performance
benefits, the building material is enjoying increasing popularity
and interest among the general public and trade alike. Even
so, misconceptions about timber as a construction material
are still commonplace, limiting potential users from enjoying
the manifold benefits of this unique, renewable building
material. Many people still prefer to use the conventional brick
and mortar to build their homes. “While common
misconceptions about timber construction play a role in
he house, commonly known as House Pinotage,
was completed in 2015 and was the first of its kind
in South Africa.
THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF LIVING IN A
TIMBER HOUSE
The Garnys say living that in the house for the past four years
has been a great experience and they have no regrets about it.
“Despite the wide-open spaces that we have been able to
House Pinotage was the first house to be constructed using large scale cross-laminated timber.
www.timberiq.co.za
// DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020
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