TALKING TIMBER
system, it allows for additions onto existing structures easily, often
without the need to relook the foundations.
There is also the potential for job creation. While most of the
European production facilities use a high level of automation, our
local processes are much more hands on, creating new skilled jobs
within the factories.
MANUFACTURING AND PROCESSES
Timber has all of the positives already mentioned and further to
these it is a material that lends itself to modern machining
extremely well. With technology you are able to manufacture very
precise products through the ‘design for manufacturing and
assembly’ process (DfMA).
A cross laminated timber (CLT) panel being machined in a CNC.
DfMA is the process of designing elements in a way that allows for
easy and precise assembly. What DfMA and the use of timber and
modern machinery allows us, is that with a little additional planning
upfront, we have significant savings on the installation time and
associated issues that come with installing the structures on site.
Hands-on processes means
benefit through creating skilled jobs
within factories.
Everything comes back to the design process and pre-planning.
Pre-planning is loved by engineers because it means less onsite
changes. You also get a very reliable cost model allowing for
incredibly efficient results. The equipment used to create these
elements in mass timber production is typically large CNC machines
but also can include industrial robots that assist in the manufacturing
process and even possibly on-site installations.
A cross laminated timber (CLT) panel ready for pressing.
material. There are a few steps along the way that we have to make
sure are correct in order to maintain quality, as this is a major element
in engineered timber products. Moisture is a key factor, so you must
ensure that you have the correct moisture levels before laminating.
This quality control process is very well ingrained in the European
CLT production lines – they are relatively new in South Africa but the
fact that we have a standards developed is already a big step
forward for the industry to allow us to create these materials locally,
and know that we are creating the right strength and quality of the
material for its application.
BENEFITS OF USING MASS TIMBER
IN SOUTH AFRICA
One of the benefits of using mass timber in South Africa is the
increased speed of construction. A lot of this is to do with these
materials being produced in a factory and being converted into
components before being taken to site.
Timber is also a lightweight material, a fifth of the weight of concrete.
This means that you can have smaller foundations, or that you can
build higher on the same types of foundations. This is a great benefit
for existing buildings in city areas that have been given an allowance
to increase in size (bulk) but it tends to be too expensive because
you would have to work on the foundations before you could
increase the size of the building. With timber being a lightweight
This technology allows us to, for example, take an entire wall and cut
the openings for windows and doors, cut the reticulation into the
panels so that the electrics and plumbing can already be integrated,
and all of this allows for very large projects to come together from
the model stage to reality in record time.
Further, the process can allow for various complex sub-assemblies
to take place. A factory can manufacture an entire façade of panels,
the interior and exterior, then bring them in section by section and
install on site. The panels simply are packed onto a truck and then
transported to site and erected within a few hours.
In other countries like the US, some companies have invested
heavily in what is known as off-site construction facilities and are
manufacturing, as an example, an entire hotel room with
furnishings and components – these are then brought to the site
and installed. This method of construction has been used in
Amsterdam and New York, where running a traditional construction
site is very difficult. You could imagine in a city like New York what
would happen if you had to close roads off. This method of off-site
construction is so efficient it has been referred to as the
construction industries ‘Uber moment,’ a paradigm shift in the way
we build the world around us. It offers the possibility to build faster,
safer and more sustainably.
All in all, between timber’s properties, technology, structural methods
and various sub-assembly configurations available, mass timber
holds great and wonderful potential in South Africa.
28 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2020 // www.timberiq.co.za