Timber iQ February - March 2018 // Issue: 36 | Page 16

COVER STORY
Siberian larch has a high resistance to rot and decay.
An arch for 'The Arch'
Arch for Arch celebrates the 'free South Africa' that Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and his peers fought to build, and plays on South
Africans' affectionate nickname for him – 'The Arch'.
By Swissline Design | Photos by Swissline Design
I
n addition to celebrating our beloved ‘Arch’, this amazing
wooden structure also celebrates the architectural
attributes of an arch structure and is made from
14 arching strands of laminated Siberian larch timber. The
‘Arch for Arch’ stands proud next to St George’s Cathedral in
Cape Town, which is where Tutu served as Archbishop and is
poignantly close to the national Parliament buildings and
Slave Lodge – a permanent reminder of Tutu’s prophetic
voice in protest as a humble priest.
The Arch for Arch completion was launched on 7 October
2017 to coincide with The Arch's 86th birthday. Swissline
Design is honoured to be a part of this momentous and
awe-inspiring structure which stands nine metres tall.
THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING
This was no easy task. Each raw Siberian larch beam of
25/150 was laminated and curved by hand, using specially
imported glue for the lamination process at the Swissline
workshop following exact specifications.
Engineering shop drawings, arranged by Swissline’ s
trusted Engineer’s based in Switzerland, a company where
Marc Ludi, owner of Swissline, had many years of work
experience before arriving in South Africa. The beams
feature a conduit placed centre of each curve to carry the
electrical wires for the lighting feature.
Each curved and twisted beam received a smooth, planed
finish – and the only way to achieve this without taking
months for planing by hand was for Swissline to specially
14 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018 //
adjust the machine to carry the curve through and by using
the overhead crane to thread the curved beam evenly.
THE INSTALLATION
There was very little room for error as the installation
relied on exact measurements to slot in with the custom
designed brackets and all the joints. Each part was
assembled using a crane and a cherry picker. This enabled
each beam to be carefully and precisely lifted while
simultaneously placed into the slot with not one millimetre
to play with. These beams are not only curved but are also
twisted and interlaced, leaving very little margin for error.
The most challenging part of the installation is the highly
sensitive and protected tree that is almost right in the
centre of the arch. Although the tree forms part of the
surveyed design it was almost impossible to manoeuvre the
bent beams through, in and under the tree branches
without damaging the tree, but thanks to some out-of-the-
box thinking from Swissline’s installation team, they finally
managed, without jeopardising the health or look of the
tree. The Siberian larch was finished with a special ultra-
violet (UV) oil to add extra protection against the elements
and a slight grey hue.
SIBERIAN LARCH
Durability resins and extracts in the wood create a high
resistance to decay and rot, the high density of Siberian
larch means that it is more difficult for decaying organisms