Timber iQ February - March 2019 // Issue: 42 | Page 20

COVER STORY
The Novatop system is a complete engineered timber building solution.
Delivering on expectation
Wood specialist Universal Plywoods achieve engineering
excellence with world class products.
By Universal Plywood | Photos By Novatop
T
he multi-product national company, with 13 years
under its belt, distributes from warehouses in
Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Durban and Cape Town.
The company was also awarded sole distribution for HWZ
International Group (HWZ) at the end of the 2018.
The HWZ partnership affords Universal Plywoods the
opportunity to further expand its already impressive
product range to include spruce glue-laminated structural
beams (SATAS S5 certification), spruce and larch moulded
products and the internationally-recognised Novatop cross
laminated timber (CLT) building system.
“We are very fortunate to have HWZ International as a
partner that owns the Novatop manufacturing plant, which
is fully geared for the modular building side of CLT. As part
of the Novatop system experience with the HWZ team we
can design a building, advise on engineering and structural
issues and what is realistically possible to manufacture,”
says Universal Plywoods (UP) managing director
Brad Anderson.
NO CROSSED LINES WITH CLT
CLT is the newest form of timber engineering in the industry
and is totally sustainable. It is a wood panel product made
by gluing layers of solid-sawn lumber together. Each layer
of boards is oriented perpendicular to adjacent layers and
glued on the wide faces of each board, usually in a
18 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019 //
symmetric way so that the outer layers have the same
orientation. An odd number of layers is most common. By
gluing layers of wood at perpendicular angles, the panel can
achieve better structural rigidity in both directions.
THE NOVATOP SYSTEM
Novatop is a comprehensive building system of large format
components made using CLT technology, and is currently
considered the top level of engineered wood for structural
applications. The wood is dried to a moisture content of
about 8% ensuring high stability and crack prevention.
Slats are glued to each other on all faces in the production
process with polyurethane adhesives, which are approved in
accordance with European standards for the manufacture of
wooden load-bearing building components for interior and
exterior use.
NOVATOP INSPIRATION
The Novatop system allows innovative and exciting design
solutions for architects. Due to the solid nature of the
system, many professionals now use wood in places they
may not have previously considered. With its smooth and
clean finish, it is set apart from other CLT products.
Clients were typically used to a tongue and groove system
with a yellow tone, where the Novatop system allows large
span sections and white tones giving a modern feel.
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