Timber Design & Technology Middle East - June 2019

ANARCHITECT chooses thermally-modified American ash for the Al Faya Lodge desert retreat Calgary’s new Central Library opens to the public Koichi Takada Architects create stunning cave-like gift shops using timber inside the National Museum of Qatar 3XN to design the tallest timber office building in North America Architects Chan+Eayrs and Sebastian Cox create the ‘Blushing Bar’ for Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan

Architects Chan+Eayrs and designer-maker Sebastian Cox created the Blushing Bar for the 2019 Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan. The bar was made out of American red oak injected with red calligraphy ink and pushed not only the boundaries of the material but also of its designers and maker.

Red oak - the most abundant of all the American hardwood species - is hugely popular in the U.S., employed for everything from flooring to furniture, staircases to cladding. It can also be used structurally and, given a protective treatment, in exterior applications.

EDITOR’S NOTE National Museum of Qatar: © Tom Ferguson Photography

June 2019 Issue 43

PUBLISHER Andy MacGregor publisher@citrusmediagroup.net +971 55 849 1574 MARKETING DIRECTOR Eric Hammond marketing@citrusmediagroup.net +971 4 455 8400 INTERNATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR James Hamilton james@timberdesignandtechnology.com EDITOR Tony Smith editor@timberdesignandtechnology.com

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Handcrafted for the Wallpaper* Handmade X: With Love exhibition, the ‘Blushing Bar’, a vibrant pink circular bar stole the spotlight at this year’s Salone del mobile Milan. Made out of American red oak, the bar not only pushed the boundaries of the material but also of its designers and maker - Sebastian Cox. According to Cox, we are in the dawn of the wood age and it’s important to invite people to constantly reconsider wood as it’s the only material that stores CO2 and is such an obvious part of the solution to our current climate crisis. We couldn’t agree more and are hopeful that the ‘Blushing Bar’ makes it way to the region later this year.

Here in the UAE, ANARCHITECT have recently completed the architecture and design of the Al Faya Lodge, specifying thermally-modified American ash for the façade of the property. The project involved two single-storey, stone-built buildings from the 1960s, previously occupied as a clinic and grocery store, being re-imagined into a contemporary boutique lodge and restaurant. Set at the foot of Mount Alvaah, the Al Faya Lodge is nestled into the UAE’s prehistoric crimson desert landscape with close proximity to the UAE’s first petroleum pump. Factoring in the location of the lodge, ANARCHITECT selected TM ash along with other suitable and robust materials that can withstand the desert conditions.

Staying in the region, Koichi Takada Architects - who are nearing the completion of their scope of work after almost 8 years in the making - has completed two gift shops inside Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar in Doha, featuring undulating wooden surfaces. Taking inspiration from Qatar’s famous Dahl Al Misfir cavern, the architecture is a representation of the desert rose mineral formation; a connection to nature if you will. Using cutting-edge 3D modelling software, the studio has achieved a design of curves and surfaces that words fail to describe. In this issue, we take a closer look at this stunning project, which involves over 40,000 unique wooden pieces that have been hand-assembled by Italian master carpenter, Claudio Devoto and his team of artisans.

This issue also takes a look at the technological advancements being made by SCM, Biesse and HOMAG, all of whom presented their latest offerings at LIGNA 2019. I’m sure these advancements in wood processing will make their way to our region very soon, particularly since the UAE is an important wood processing hub in the GCC. As always, I would like to encourage you to log on to the website - www.timberdesignandtechnology.com - for the latest updates and please get in touch if you have any suggestions for subjects we should consider covering. In closing, I would like to thank our advertisers, our partners and our readers.

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CONTENTS

10 SUSTAINABILITY

28 DESIGN & DECOR

ANARCHITECT chooses thermally-modified American ash for the Al Faya Lodge desert retreat

Koichi Takada Architects create stunning cave-like gift shops using timber inside the National Museum of Qatar

14 ANALYSIS

34 TALL TIMBER

Wood is Good

3XN to design the tallest timber office building in North America

18 ANALYSIS

51 WOOD WORKS

Throwing the spotlight on American red oak at Interzum Cologne

Architects Chan+Eayrs and Sebastian Cox create the ‘Blushing Bar’ for Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan

22 DESIGN & DECOR Calgary’s new Central Library opens to the public

TECHNOLOGY

40 SCM

42 HOMAG

46 BIESSE

06

Image © interzum

Image © interzum

Image © interzum

Innovative, inspiring, international: interzum impressed 74,000 trade visitors

interzum, the world’s leading trade fair for furniture production and interior design, held in Cologne, drew to an end on Friday, 24th May 2019, with outstanding results. For four full days, interzum served as a source of inspiration for the design of future living spaces and presented the technical, haptic and visual refinements with which tomorrow’s furniture will set new standards. With 1,805 exhibitors from 60 countries (2017: 1,732 exhibitors from 59 countries), more companies than ever before showcased their innovations across an exhibition area covering approximately 190,000 square meters.

In addition to increasing its exhibitor numbers, the trade fair considerably expanded its international reach. The proportion of foreign visitors rose to around 75 percent (2017: 73 percent). Out of a total audience of 74,000 visitors, over 55,000 came from outside Germany. “We significantly exceeded our goal of topping the 70,000-visitor mark,” said Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse, who is delighted with the results. “This has been an almost magical anniversary event in every respect and one that we will all remember. An industry demonstrated its immense capacity for innovation in truly impressive style.”

With this year’s outstanding figures, interzum has continued its impressive success story. The number of trade visitors has risen by more than 28 percent since 2015. The atmosphere in the trade fair halls was excellent: exhibitors and visitors from across the globe were very satisfied with the event. This was reflected in the highly positive verdict from the participating companies, who confirmed interzum’s leading position as the industry’s number one trade fair in the world.

Alongside visitors from Germany, the most strongly represented European nations were Italy, France, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands

and the United Kingdom.

Significant increases were seen in visitors from Asia (+22 percent), with particularly strong growth from China (+48 percent), as well as increases from Central and South America (+24 percent), Eastern Europe (+21 percent) and North America (+7 percent). The exhibitors reported that they did excellent business and established many new contacts from around the world. In its anniversary year, interzum mastered the balancing act of being an industry meeting place for trade visitors on the one hand and a hotspot for the creative professions on the other. A large number of inspiring presentations by companies contributed to this.

This year interzum demonstrated particularly impressively that it is not only a trade fair for the supplier industry, but also a 360-degree event that presents visions of how we will live in the future. By addressing this issue, it takes up a place alongside imm cologne/LivingKitchen and ORGATEC. In addition to familiarizing themselves with the product ranges of suppliers to the furniture industry, manufacturers, architects and designers were able to discover a host of innovative materials and production processes.

With a diverse range of special event areas, talk and discussion areas, piazzas and workshops on disruptive materials, surface design, digital printing, digital products and materials, smart systems, mobile living spaces and new technologies, interzum 2019 linked a broad spectrum of future issues and product innovations for tomorrow’s homes.

The standout themes this year that will set the direction of future developments were the continuing rise of individualization, energy efficiency and sustainability, light (LED), digitalization (including voice control), micro living and ‘slide and hide’.

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Sir John Sorrell, Chairman of London Design Festival, has called upon his friends at London’s top cultural institutions to collaborate with some of the world’s most prolific designers to create a ‘Legacy’ piece in American red oak that will be shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in September. The project is in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), whose European director, David Venables, spearheaded the idea, and Benchmark Furniture whose Berkshire workshop will make all the pieces over the summer.

Image © AHEC

London’s top cultural leaders paired with influential designers to create a ‘Legacy’ piece in American red oak for London Design Festival

“Whenever we do a project of this sort, we always end up with something of a festival atmosphere at Benchmark, with all our makers engaging with new challenges, in a very short timeframe, and lots of super interesting visitors through our doors. I’m looking forward to the fun we shall have working with AHEC on this great project, which champions the use of sustainable wood sources,” concluded Sutcliffe.

Image © Tom Harrison

Sean Sutcliffe, founder of Benchmark, says: “I am looking forward to working with some designers that we have not worked with before, and re-engaging with some that we have. I’m going to be interested to see what they come up with in a ‘single material’ like American red oak - and in such a short timeframe. I am also excited to get a brief glimpse into the personal thinking of some of the leaders of London’s major cultural institutions.”

Image © Tom Harrison

“AHEC is always pushing the boundaries for American hardwoods and we wanted to create a project that celebrates the use of red oak to demonstrate not just how beautiful it is for furniture making, but also to test the performance and quality of this abundant wood,” said David Venables. “It’s a fabulous project with incredible designers. We can’t wait to see what emerges from these unique collaborations.”

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The lights and sounds of Timber Aurora at Vivid Sydney 2019 Arup continues its involvement in Vivid Sydney, the annual festival of light, music and ideas, with this year’s creative installation - a 9 meter-long bench prototype, inspired by the polar lights. Through light, sound and structure, Timber Aurora captures the dynamic, yet fluid movements and sounds of waves while projecting the colors of an aurora - redefining what we expect of urban furniture.

Arup’s Cloris Wang and Delvin Saputra joined with architects, Danna Priyatna, James Wang and Timothy Li to create the Timber Aurora concept, which is positioned in the Campbell’s Cove precinct of Circular Quay. Cloris said the design combines the technological and functional aesthetic expected at Vivid, but it also makes a statement on ways to activate traditionally unused spaces in our cities.

“We wanted Timber Aurora to be more than just seating. It is equipped with smart devices and lights that play out a sequence that encourages kids and adults alike to change the color patterns,” added Delvin Saputra, Lighting Designer, Arup.

The modular, templated timber pieces demonstrate the creative potential of timber. Coil-like, ‘inflated’ timber panels form the backrest of the bench seat and are illuminated to create a circular pattern. Linear LED RGB fixtures positioned within the sculpture shell between each timber panel create depth and movement as the color travels between the panels.

“As a team we really believe street furniture like this can transform the edges of architectural landscapes,” concluded Delvin.

Image © Arup

“By lighting its surroundings, the Timber Aurora can create a playful community space. A place that would normally be dark and quiet, suddenly comes alive with excitement and conversation as people

have fun and ultimately feel safer to visit,” said Cloris Wang, Urban Designer, Arup.

New opportunities from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area poised to further elevate importance of manufacturing node in South China Asia’s largest and most comprehensive trade fair for the woodworking machinery, furniture production and interiors industry came to a rousing end to critical acclaim on March 31 after four days of business. CIFM / interzum Guangzhou, held in conjunction with the China International Furniture Fair (CIFF), showcased the entire industry value chain in the region with more international brands participating than ever - a strong indicator of the event’s standing in the furniture industry.

A total of 94,863 visitors from 114 countries and regions checked in at the event, up by 5.57 percent from the last edition. Visitors who travelled from abroad accounted for 14,278. The exhibition spanned 150,000 square meters over 17 halls and featured an unprecedented record of 1,509 exhibitors from 35 countries and regions.

“The number of both domestic and international exhibitors at interzum

Guangzhou has hit new historical highs this year. We’ve also seen a jump in the number of buyers coming and making use of this platform for procurement. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area will no doubt inject a further boost to the furniture manufacturing node in South China,” said Keith Tsui, Managing Director of Koelnmesse Co., Ltd. Besides the trade floor, the international exhibition zone of interzum Guangzhou 2019 also teemed with activities with the hosting of a total of seven forums analyzing detailed market trends and business matching activities participated by four well-known domestic furniture brands. In addition, the special display of the 20 most outstanding furniture accessory products announced at the annual ‘20 PLUS 20’ event saw winning products cover the areas of textiles, hardware and power systems. The next CIFM / interzum Guangzhou will take place from March 28-31, 2020 at Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, China.

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Image © DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR

DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR: a global market place that brings together the international carpet and flooring industry

DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR’s 21st edition concluded on March 28, 2019, achieving new milestones in exhibitor numbers, increased participation with VIP programs, and onsite events. This year’s edition grew to an impressive show space of 175,000 sqm and welcomed over 1,560 exhibitors. From the total number of 66,875 visitors, 15,092 came from outside of China. Attendees from South Korea, USA, Japan, India, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada and Germany made up the top ten international visiting countries.

"This year's DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR was again very international,” said Sonia Wedell-Castellano, Global Director of DOMOTEX Worldwide.

“This makes the Shanghai-based show a global market place that brings together the international carpet and flooring industry. The many design events, such as the Chinese Original Carpet Design Show, provided inspiration and new ideas, as well as initiating new business.

All of the exhibitors I talked to were very satisfied with both the quality and quantity of visitors to their booths. Once again, DOMOTEX asia/ CHINAFLOOR has proven to be a trendsetter and has delivered real potential for the flooring industry in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The day before the show, DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR hosted the World Flooring Forum in collaboration with China National Forest Products. A highlight of the conference was a global market overview presented by eight keynote speakers from Europe, USA, Australia and China. They shared their perspectives on the current status and future market trends of the flooring industry in China, Europe and North America. The conference also included four consecutive panel discussions. More than 400 top leaders from the biggest Chinese manufacturers and global distributors were there to discuss market trends, technology innovations, material applications, distribution channels, and branding.

Co-organized with the Australian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA), 38 Australian buyers went on a special tour through the wood halls of the fair to increase onsite engagement and business collaboration with top Chinese wood exhibitors. In addition, wood and bamboo flooring experts from Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States attended B2B meetings with exhibiting manufacturers.

The goal of this program is to increase business collaboration between

international buyers and domestic wood and bamboo flooring suppliers.

“I had the gratifying experience of being part of the Wood & Bamboo Flooring Hosted Buyers Program with DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR,” said Gloria Sierra Male from Distiplas, Spain. “It is a very useful way to meet local companies. One day before the fair I made many good contacts, so I was able to follow up during the exhibition days at their stands.”

The third edition of the Luxury Brands Carpet Show was a visitor favorite, welcoming both new and returning design companies. Curated by COVER Magazine, the pavilion was once again set up as a gallery style viewing area that naturally led visitors to each company’s carpet art. Opening its doors with an exclusive networking cocktail, the area became a connecting point for international high-end luxury rug brands and local interior designers. As part of the Luxury Brands show for 2019, there was also a series of talks by exhibitors and COVER magazine, on the subject of rugs and their importance for interiors and future rug trends.

Making its debut at this year’s show was the ‘Chinese Original Carpet Design Show’, organized with a view to instill confidence within the local community and to support exceptional art students. More than 50 local designers took part in the online competition and were judged on style, pattern, and interior matching by three of the industry’s leading international media publications: HALI, Carpet XL and Decostyle. 25 selected pieces were on display and a professional jury chose the top 13 carpets. The winners received design awards and were published in the leading Chinese interior design publication - INTERNI. The 2019 InnovAction Flooring Campaign presented 21 products and materials from the resilient and wood sectors. The voting for the show’s Top 10 Best Products took place three weeks before the show opening and was judged online by flooring professionals. InnovAction exhibitors were found within two specialty display areas, all of which designed by globally renowned architect, Kostas Chatzigiannis. Each pavilion gave the halls a different flair and introduced award-winning concepts. The official sponsor, Floor Covering Weekly (FCW) presented the awards to the winners and conducted short interviews with the top 5 resilient and top 5 wood companies.

10

ANARCHITECT chooses thermally-modified American ash for the Al Faya Lodge desert retreat Eco-retreat features sustainable robust materials designed to withstand desert conditions

Image © ANARCHITECT

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Image © ANARCHITECT

Al Faya Lodge offered a one-ofa-kind and exciting challenge for ANARCHITECT with their passion for site-responsive projects and affinity to detail and materiality. The choice of material is contextual and relevant not only to the harsh, arid, desert climate but also to the historical presence of the iron in the region. The architecture and

Set at the foot of Mount Alvaah, the Al Faya Lodge is nestled into the UAE’s prehistoric crimson desert landscape with close proximity to the UAE’s first petroleum pump. The Al Faya Lodge is a new addition to the Sharjah Collection - a group of distinctive boutique hotels and eco-retreats purposefully located in key locations throughout the emirate of Sharjah.

The architecture and design of the Al Faya Lodge, by architect Jonathan Ashmore and his Dubai and London-based practice ANARCHITECT are paramount to the experience it provides. Two single-storey, stone-built buildings from the 1960s, previously occupied as a clinic and grocery store, have been re-imagined into a contemporary boutique lodge and restaurant. Together with the addition of a newly built saltwater spa building, Al Faya Lodge is set to become a new and unique destination in the UAE. Jonathan Ashmore, practice Principal, comments: “Desert conditions present extreme heat in summer with intense and prolonged sun exposure, so it is important to consider these

factors when first designing the form and mass of the building and secondly the selection of suitable and robust materials which go hand in hand. Desert sites are exposed to all the elements and not just sunlight.”

“The elements also include driving rain, sand storms and low-temperatures at night.

Locally sourced stone or concrete construction provide heavy thermal mass to deal with these extremes with regards to temperature fluctuations. Surface materials like Corten steel and secondary structure materials like robust hardwoods and aluminum were also explored to add refinement and precision to the design particularly for over-sailing roofs, shading elements and also terrace decks raised above the level of the sands,” added Ashmore.

The lodge comprises of a breakfast, reception room, library & roof terrace. Within each room of the five-bedroom lodge is a feature skylight for star-gazing; the luxe room has the added experience of a private roof terrace and dual aspect. The purposebuilt spa building houses an open-

interior interventions purposely contrast the original fabric of the existing buildings. CorTen steel emphasizes the new additional layers that have been introduced to repurpose and extend the spaces to accommodate a new series of programmes. In doing so, ANARCHITECT has inadvertently drawn focus to the original buildings, creating clearly defined thresholds and the juxtaposition between that what is old and what is new.

On the subject of materials, Ashmore comments: “More often than not, the intense desert climate proves to be a difficult condition to enable the use of

Image © ANARCHITECT

air saltwater pool and three salt spa experiences - heat, water and salt inhalation. The restaurant and visitors’ reception are located on the other side of the property and comprise a dining room, outdoor terrace, fire-pit and a public roof terrace.

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Image © ANARCHITECT

Ashmore adds: “The thermallymodified American ash façade has close proximity to the saltwater swimming pool. We required a TM hardwood species that also had good structural properties to allow us to design a bespoke and interlocked self-supporting wall system that could incorporate a series of doors and bi-fold openings that would provide access to changing rooms and

Image © ANARCHITECT

Thermally-modified timber (TMT) was a natural and suitable choice for ANARCHITECT to explore, for the outdoor conditions. TM

American ash offers Class 1 category for durability with a minimum life expectancy of 25 years with high water resistance without additional protection and suitable for contact with the ground.

Image © ANARCHITECT

traditional timber in exterior applications. Durable hardwoods from South-East Asia and South America often fail after short periods of time, or they begin to weather fast and require regular and intense maintenance.

We were looking for suitable natural wood, dark in tone, with a smooth finish and consistent grain to contrast the dense, sober brutalism of the cast in situ fairfaced concrete that made up the main structure of the new build spa building.”

the pool pantry areas from the exterior areas.”

immense potential in the harsh climate of the region.”

Thermal-modification takes a non-durable hardwood and makes in suitable for exterior use and adds dimensional stability through a relatively simple, chemical-free and low environmental impact process of heating the timber to a very high temperature in a vacuum kiln. In American hardwoods, the process works best in ash, red oak, soft maple and tulipwood, making them ideal for decking and cladding applications, as well as for outdoor furniture and shade structures.

The Lodge, Spa and Restaurant buildings are divided by a through-road, which creates an unusual and dynamic urbanity to the master plan of the retreat. The buildings together with the historical petroleum pump command a presence to the road in the scarce desert landscape and will become both a destination and stop-off for those who know and for those who then discover this new intervention.

Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional Director adds: “It is great to see this relatively new material being specified and used in the Middle East and, as far as we know, this is one of only two or three projects in the Gulf that uses TM American hardwoods.

I have no doubt that we will be seeing more of it in the near future, as for American hardwoods, which already come with guarantees of legality and sustainability, this process opens up a whole new market opportunity and one that has

The project is designed to become a destination that offers relief from the intensity of the city for short breaks. Al Faya Lodge is purposely primordial allowing one to simply exist, absorb and contemplate the surroundings in your own individual way and time. It embodies the ambition of the client and design vision of ANARCHITECT to create a memorable experience for the curious, discerning clientele, where a unique, passionate and contextual approach to the project has resulted in one-of-akind property.

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Wood is Good

MTC throws the spotlight on how different timber species can be treated, cured, dried and utilized

Wood has been associated with man since time immemorial.

Unfortunately, many architects, builders, contractors and specifiers shy away from using wood because of their lack of understanding of the material and the common myths and fallacies associated with wood.

One fundamental aspect of wood that must be understood is that it is a biological material and therefore subject to environmental factors that influence its formation and growth. This makes wood variable, with different densities and technical properties, so no two pieces of wood are similar.

Once this tenet is understood, wood becomes a more accommodating material, lending itself to a huge variety of uses and applications, largely due to its ability to fulfil both form-and-function requirements.

Technical research on Malaysia’s timber species done by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia has contributed significantly to how different timber species can be treated, cured, dried and utilized.

The Nature of Wood

Wood is a Biological Material: Wood is made up of cells, which tend to be elongated and are arranged along the longitudinal

axis of the tree trunk. These cells are made up of a complicated mixture of polymers of cellulose, interspersed with other noncellulosic carbohydrates and lignin. These cells act as tiny elongated thin-walled tubes and impart some outstanding physical and mechanical properties to the wood.

Wood is Anisotropic: Wood behaves differently along its three major differential axes in terms of strength properties and dimensional movements.

Wood is Hygroscopic: Wood is subject to changes in moisture

content of its surroundings. The temperature and humidity of the surrounding atmosphere and the amount of water already in the wood will determine whether wood absorbs or loses water vapor. These absorptions or losses of water vapor will cause the wood to swell or shrink.

The anisotropic nature of wood will cause unequal dimensional movements in the three directions.

Wood is Inert: Wood is inert to the action of most chemicals.

This property makes wood suited for many industrial applications where resistance

Image @ MTC

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to corrosion is important. When wood is exposed to atmospheric conditions, it will only erode at a rate of 0.25 inch per century. Even this can easily be prevented by applying coatings and proper treatment on the wood surface. Advances in R&D by many research agencies globally have contributed to a rich and growing repository of knowledge on timbers, resulting in the development of various treatments and techniques as well as recovery and engineering solutions to manage timber’s natural properties to enhance its usage, enabling timber to be used more intelligently with a

lot less wastage.

Positive Attributes of Wood Strength: Wood has a high strength-to-weight ratio, i.e., for the same strength required for a given structure, the weight of the timber material to be used can be as much as 16 times less than steel, or five times less than concrete. Weight for weight, wood can be designed to carry a heavier load than steel, i.e., one tonne of wood can carry a heavier load than one tonne of steel. Modern engineered timber products like Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam) and Cross Laminated Timber

(CLT) allow wood to be used in constructing high-rise buildings.

Currently, the world’s tallest timber building is an 18-storey apartment called Mjøstårnet in Brumunddal, Norway.

Durability: There is a great variety of timbers with a wide range of properties to suit various outdoor and internal applications, and for both aesthetic and structural purposes. While some timbers are perishable under uncontrolled conditions, many species of timbers can naturally last for a very long time.

Timber can be treated to make it harder, termite resistant or

weather-resistant. Treatment can be done by impregnating wood with certain chemicals which are effective yet safe for use by humans. This process is widely available and is affordable. Treated timber will often out-last naturally durable timbers.

Excellent Insulator: Wood is an excellent insulating material because of the presence of the empty cell walls, which act as tiny traps that resist the transfer of heat. This characteristic is deemed ideal for insulation materials.

Compared with wood, other

The speed and ease of ignition is dependent on the rate of accumulation of heat at the surface of the wood. Several factors influence this rate and they are the size of the piece of wood, the rate of heat loss from the surface, the presence of thin outstanding edges and the rate which heat is supplied to the surface of the wood. Small pieces with sharp protecting edges, such as matches, ignite easily. On the other hand, large pieces, with round edges, like a round Glulam column catch fire at a much slower rate. In buildings with engineered timber panels, heat does not conduct from one side of the panel to the other.

Acoustic Properties: Timber has good acoustic properties.

It has better sound dampening capacity than most structural

Image @ MTC

Performance in Fire: Research has shown that timber used as structures, such as columns in large buildings, performs better during a fire compared to steel or concrete. This is because steel will buckle, and concrete will crack and crumble very suddenly under high temperatures.

Thick timber columns, on the other hand, will initially ignite but the charring of the outer layers of wood will cut off the oxygen supply and effectively slows down the burning of the deeper layers of the timber. The slow rate of burn is important because it gives the occupants enough time to evacuate during a fire. Timber columns have been found to be still standing and functioning after intense fires.

Image @ MTC

building materials such as bricks, steel and concrete are not good insulators. Wood requires minimal external energy to keep a building within the thermal comfort zone of its inhabitants. Wood is 6 times better than brick as an insulator; 8 times better than glass; 15 times better than concrete; 390 times better than steel and 1,700 times better than aluminum.

Image @ MTC

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materials such as concrete, which reflects sounds with stronger echoes. The natural acoustic properties of timber control this excessive echo by reducing the transmission of sound vibrations. Wooden panels and timber flooring are commonly used to improve the acoustical properties of a room.

They are used to reduce noise and improve the quality of sound in spaces such as auditoriums and theatres.

Versatility: Timber is the most versatile building material compared to other building materials. It can be used for both structural and decorative purposes, as well as for outdoor and internal applications.

Timber exudes warmth and adds character to a place.

Understanding timbers and their properties is important to help us select the right species for the right application. The fact that trees grow according to the natural environment they are in means that there are thousands of grains and shades to choose from globally, providing an excellent choice for architects, builders and interior designers.

Energy Efficient: Processing wood is energy efficient. The production of one tonne of cement requires 5 times more energy than the production of one tonne of wood; 14 times more energy for one tonne of glass; 24 times more energy for one tonne of steel and 126 times more energy for one tonne of aluminum. *This article has been submitted by the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC). Information for this article has been extracted from ‘TIMBER - Facts That Figure’, which has been published by the MTC in collaboration with the National Committee on Utilisation of Timber in Construction. To learn more about Malaysian timber species, please contact MTC (www.mtc.com.my).

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Throwing the spotlight on American red oak at Interzum Cologne

Image ŠAHEC

AHEC set to unveil multiple collaborations in red oak through the year across many regions

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Image ©AHEC

Image ©AHEC

The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the leading international trade association for the American hardwood industry, threw the spotlight on American red oak and showcased its innovative approach to hardwood communications at Interzum 2019 with two exciting new initiatives on show: The Blushing Bar - a 3m diameter circular bar that uses calligraphy ink to dye the large vessels of red oak, and Rubra - a new furniture collection designed by Sebastian Cox. The American presence at Europe’s premier furniture production and interior design exhibition was at its most high profile since the 1990s.

One factor in this re-energized interest in Interzum is the dip in demand from America’s biggest hardwood market, China. Such was the interest in attending the Cologne event, this year AHEC hosted two twin pavilions with a record number of exhibitors - 27 in total - the highest in decades.

Information on the whole richly diverse palette of U.S. hardwoods was also available at the show.

Additionally, AHEC invited visitors to take another look at species they may feel they’re familiar with. In particular, the spotlight was on red oak, which was the sole species on show on AHEC’s stand.

“Red oak is not just America’s most abundant hardwood, and so its most sustainable, it’s hugely versatile with an appealing, wonderfully warm aesthetic. However, while it’s very popular in other markets, it’s been less utilized in Europe," said David Venables, AHEC European Director. “We have some incredibly exciting projects lined up to showcase its potential through the year. It’s oak redefined and it all starts at Interzum.”

Originally created for Wallpaper* Handmade at this year’s Milan Design Week, the Blushing Bar was designed by architects Chan + Eayrs and crafted by furniture maker Sebastian Cox. The

circular bar measures at 3 meters diameter and is composed of 10 modules intended for making cocktails (water, alcohol, fruit, herbs, holders, ice, cutting, glass, sodas, wash basin), each of which forms a variation of a curved sculpted element.

The design exploits the unique properties of American red oak, large open pores, which have been injected with red calligraphy ink, which worked to the surface to pick out the beautiful grain.

To further highlight red oak’s technical performance and aesthetic, AHEC commissioned designer-maker Sebastian Cox to produce furniture for its stand at the show. The result is the Rubra collection; a long bar-height table with stools that can be ingeniously stored underneath.

Cox wanted to cast oak furniture in a new light at Interzum; instead of it being heavy and chunky, Cox designed the range to be rectilinear, light and elegant. It was also nestable and designed for batch production.

“Everything we design is scaleable with production in mind. Added to which the market needs more products in this material,” said Sebastian Cox. “It was the perfect material for the brief. Its strength to weight meant we could make the proportions of the pieces very elegant. It also bends a great deal before snapping, machines beautifully and takes a finish well. One challenge was its eagerness to absorb glue, but, given a double application, the connections were as strong as in any hardwood. We also used a raw lightly white pigmented oil finish so it’s near to natural as possible.”

At Interzum, AHEC highlighted the environmental strengths of the U.S. hardwood resource, presenting its various tools for verifying its sustainability.

These include the LCA tool, plus its interactive, satellite imagery-based interactive forest map and American Hardwood Environmental Profile, a ‘green

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Image ©AHEC

AHEC is also working with Houtlander this year in Johannesburg, which is one of South Africa's newest, yet most successful furniture designer/ makers. Having picked up the award for the ‘Most Beautiful

Image ©AHEC

“In line with the strategy of AHEC's European Office, this calendar year will see a number of projects featuring red oak across Africa, the Middle East and Oceania. AHEC will

be participating in Denfair in Melbourne, Australia, which is due to take place from June 20 - 22. We are working with architect and designer, Adam Markowitz, who has designed a stand featuring thermallymodified red oak vertical cladding and natural red oak furniture, as well as a sample table, highlighting red oak's staining abilities,” said Roderick Wiles, AHEC Regional Director.

Image ©AHEC

passport’, detailing the carbon and wider environmental impacts of U.S. hardwood consignments shipped to any destination worldwide. The latest edition of its Seneca Creek-produced risk assessment study, a uniquely wideranging analysis of the risk of illegal wood entering the U.S. hardwood supply chain, was also briefly discussed at the show.

Object in South Africa’ this year for their American white oak Interdependence II bench, they are now keen to explore the development of their range to include red oak, both natural and thermally-modified. In addition, AHEC is working with Dubai-based Hungarian architect and designer, Anna Szonyi, with whom AHEC collaborated in 2017 with Seed to Seat, to facilitate the remaking of her award-winning IDO Bench in thermally-modified red oak.

“The overall idea is to demonstrate the beauty and versatility of red oak in white oak

dominated markets and to highlight its excellent working properties and the fact that it is the most abundant of the American hardwood species, with two cubic meters growing in the forest every second, and total growth exceeding harvest by 21 million cubic meters each year.

Red oak machines just as well as white oak and finishes perhaps better; it bends more easily and takes treatment well for external use. It can also perfectly well substitute a species like meranti, with its similar density, permeability and grain,” concluded Wiles.

INTEGRATION SOFTWARE B_CABINET IS A UNIQUE SOLUTION FOR MANAGING FURNITURE PRODUCTION FROM THE 3D DESIGN PHASE TO PRODUCTION FLOW MONITORING

MIDDLEEAST@BIESSE.COM +97148878533

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Calgary’s new Central Library opens to the public

Image Š Michael Grimm

Library features the largest freeform timber shell in the world

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Late last year, the Snøhettaand DIALOG-designed new Central Library opened its doors to the public. With an aim to welcome over twice as many annual visitors to its 240,000 square feet of expanded facilities, the library will fill a vital role for the rapidly expanding city. As Calgary’s largest public investment since the 1988 Olympics, the library signals the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the city, one centered on the creation and innovation of knowledge and culture.

Calgary Public Library is one of the largest library systems in North America, where more than half of its residents are active cardholders, and accordingly, the new main branch was created for and inspired by its diverse inhabitants. The new building provides spaces for all types of people and activities - for social interaction and exchange, for studying and learning, for quiet and introspection - championing the unique civic function that libraries provide today.

Image © Michael Grimm

The building is sited within a complex urban condition, where

a fully operational Light Rail Transit Line crosses the site from above to below ground on a curved half- moon path, dividing Downtown and East Village. In response, the design lifts the main entry over the encapsulated train line. Gently terraced slopes rise up to the heart of the building, allowing for people arriving from every direction to interact with the library.

Outdoor amphitheaters nestled into the terraces provide places for people to sit and for library programs to spill outside.

Plantings that reference the native landscape draw Calgary’s mountains and prairies into the cityscape, and line the plaza’s surrounding streets with elms and aspen trees.

Doubling as a portal and a bridge, the entry plaza heals the previously-split seam between the two neighborhoods and re-establishes visual and pedestrian connections across the site.

The dynamic, triple-glazed façade is composed of a modular, hexagonal pattern that expresses the library’s aims to

Image © Michael Grimm

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provide a space that invites in all visitors. Aggregated variations on the hexagon form scatter across the building’s curved surface in alternating panels of fritted glass and occasional iridescent aluminum. From these shapes emerge familiar forms: parts of the pattern might resemble an open book, snowflake-like linework, or interlocking houses, anchoring the ideas of the collective and community. Most importantly, the entire building volume is enclosed in the same pattern, allowing all sides to function as the ‘front’ of the building.

This visual vocabulary continues inside, expressed in the design of CPL’s new visual identity and wayfinding signage in the building, unifying the library’s goals of inclusivity.

As the archway continues into the lobby and atrium, the wood spirals upwards over 85 feet to a view of the sky through the oculus. Wood slats line the perimeter of the open atrium, shaped in plan like a pointed ellipse, serving as an orientation device for people to quickly grasp the circulation and organizational logic of the library. Inside, the concrete structure is left exposed and unfinished, hinting at the open-ended possibilities within. The rhythm of beams and columns are reminiscent of a stoa, the public, open-air colonnades of ancient Greek architecture that doubled as spaces of gathering and intellectual exchange. The rawness of the material palette is intended to give people the sense that the library is a place of engagement, rather than a sacrosanct repository for books.

Image © Michael Grimm

Image © Michael Grimm

Image © Michael Grimm

The crystalline geometry of the façade is carved away to reveal an expansive wood archway that embraces visitors as they approach. Framing the entrance of the building, the form references the Chinook cloud arches common to the region.

Created entirely of planks of western red cedar from nearby British Columbia, the double-

curved shell is among one of the largest freeform timber shell in the world. Its organic form and texture bring the large building down to a tactile, intimate scale.

Visible from the outside of the building is the main atrium, inviting people in.

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provide space for crafts and drawing-based activities, early literacy programs, and a full-body indoor play experience.

Image © Michael Grimm

Image © Michael Grimm

Throughout the six floors, a variety of spaces provide for digital, analog, group, and individual interactions. At the uppermost level of the library is the Great Reading Room, conceived as a jewel box tucked within the library, which provides a space for focused study and

Image © Michael Grimm

Organized on a spectrum of ‘Fun’ to ‘Serious,’ the library program locates the livelier public activities on the lower floors, gradually transitioning to quieter study areas on the upper levels as one spirals upwards.

At the street level, a series of multi-purpose rooms line the perimeter of the building, enhancing the connectivity between inside and outside. On the ground floor, a Children’s Library offers playhouses that

inspiration. Readers enter through a transitional space with softened light and acoustics.

Within, vertical wood slats line the space to provide both privacy and visibility, defining an interior space without using solid walls.

Natural light illuminates the space through the wood slats creating glancing sightlines between the atrium and western façade.

Arriving at the northernmost point of the library, one finds

oneself at the Living Room, overlooking the train line and the meeting point of the two neighborhoods. Filled with light and activity, this prow of the building will not only serve as a beacon to those outside, inviting them to enter, but also as a prospect for looking back out - a fitting vantage point to observe the impact of a building that hopes to re-energize the spirit of culture, learning, and community in Calgary.

NEW MORBIDELLI X200/X400 WE HAVE ALREADY DESIGNED THE FUTURE OF NESTING

The new generation of Nesting CNC machining centres meets the needs of a market increasingly oriented towards flexible and batch-1 production, combining excellent performance, maximum configurability with increased flexibility and productivity. morbidelli x200 and x400 allow to execute horizontal drilling, to use specific pods directly on the spoil-board and are equipped with a work table divided into vacuum zones that can be activated only when necessary.

Every detail is designed to make any performance accessible, leading to efficiency, quality and business evolution.

SCM MIDDLE EAST FZE Dubai - United Arab Emirates Tel. +971 4 8321674 - www.scmgroupmiddleeast.com

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Image Š Tom Ferguson Photograpy

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Koichi Takada Architects create stunning cave-like gift shops using timber inside the National Museum of Qatar Studio takes inspiration from Qatar’s famous Dahl Al Misfir cavern for the interior design of the two gift shops

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and complement Jean Nouvel’s architecture.

Located on a 1.5 millionsquare-foot site at the south end of Doha’s Corniche, the National Museum of Qatar will be the first monument visible to travelers arriving from the airport. The exterior of the National Museum of Qatar was designed by French architect and Pritzker prize winner - Jean Nouvel. Now open to the public, the shops are intended to complement the organic form of the museum building. In addition, the forms and materials used by Koichi Takada Architects aim to respect

Principal Architect, Koichi Takada, explains: “Talking to H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa and to the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) has opened my eyes to a culturally rich way of life, which has inspired me. They passionately talked about the iconic nature of Dahl Al Misfir (Cave of Light), located in the heart of Qatar, and introduced me to the ritual of majlis floor dining, a bit like my favorite childhood memory of Japanese tatami floor dining. Designing the interiors of the National Museum of Qatar was an

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

restaurants set to open later this year.

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

The grand opening of the National Museum of Qatar in March earlier this year revealed the much-anticipated and captivating interior designed

by Australian studio - Koichi Takada Architects - who are nearing the completion of their scope of work after almost 8 years in the making. The design studio has completed two gift shops inside Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar in Doha, featuring undulating wooden surfaces. The two cave-like gift shops are the first of a number of interior spaces that Koichi Takada Architects has designed inside the new museum, along with three

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

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opportunity to create a unique experience for visitors to immerse in Qatar’s cultural heritage; the traditional and historical past, and its development into a modern state as the cultural hub of the Middle East.”

The interior design concept “desert-scapes” was carefully curated to create a local cultural experience for visitors, while bowing to Jean Nouvel’s architectural masterpiece.

According to Koichi Takada Architects, the architecture is a representation of the desert rose mineral formation; a connection to nature. Each interior space offers a fragment of the Qatari history, that aims to enhance

and fulfil both, a cultural and memorable experience for museum visitors. The design of the interiors in the National Museum of Qatar is a narrative of Qatari history. The designs are an embodiment of Qatari history, the beginnings of the trade, nomadic lifestyle and beautiful natural environment. Through many conversations with the local Qatari people, the designs evolved to translate a story into a visual design and memorable experience.

The Dahl Al Misfir (Cave of Light), located in the heart of Qatar, is a beautiful underground sanctuary formed largely from fibrous gypsum crystals that give off a

faint, moon-like, phosphorescent glow. Gypsum can appear in formations of clusters, such as the famous ‘desert rose’, but can also crystallize in other forms of fluorescent and translucent shapes, interacting with light and transforming the space, evolving through the day. The timber walls of the museum shops were inspired by Dahl Al Misfir.

Its organic architecture echoes Koichi Takada’s vision of bringing nature back into architecture, establishing relationships that connect people and nature through design.

“Using cutting-edge 3D modelling software, we achieved a design of curves

and surfaces that words fail to describe. Imagine putting together the 40,000 wooden pieces of a three-dimensional puzzle? Each wooden piece, CNC-cut in Italy, is entirely unique so it could only fit with its exact complementary piece. They were assembled by hand in Doha by Italian master carpenter, Claudio Devoto and his team of artisans. The intensity of the design and craftsmanship pays homage to Jean Nouvel's desert rose inspired architecture and celebrates the natural Qatari heritage of the desert-scape,” added Takada.

One of the first challenges facing

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According to Koichi Takada Architects, to achieve a better uniformity of color, the excessively light colors in the exposed timber face had to be hand stained darker and very dark portions of the timber face had to be physically replaced. This color adjustment had to be a delicate time-consuming intervention to preserve the overall sinuous continuity of the designed surface while maintaining the natural character of the timber and staying true to overall design of

the interior.

Another big challenge was the conditioning of the timber due to the extreme temperature and humidity conditions experienced in the Middle East region. The timber pieces were cut from the sheets in Italy, in a non airconditioned factory. The pieces then were shipped to Doha by sea in containers with further temperatures and humidity variability. The onsite arrival into the Museum's air-conditioned interior space caused a lot of movement in the timber pieces.

Further, the acclimatization of the timber during assembly was challenging due to the extremely tight construction program.

The site assembly was an engineering and assembly challenge that was skillfully executed by the Italian Master Carpenters. The almost 40,000 timber pieces were individually encoded with a visual number and guideline in order to make the

assembly possible. On site the carpenters took about up to 2 days to carefully sort the timber pieces for each section of the assembly.

The following assembly of the timber layered walls was by hand, pieces by piece without visible fixings, from the ends of the space towards the center, where they were merged together.

Each piece of timber was glued and fixed by small cleverly conceived brackets to a steel riblike structure behind the cladding.

The steel structure was in itself a remarkable piece of engineering, fixed to the base building by steel plates and chemical bolts.

According to the design team, not a single piece of timber could be installed in the incorrect position in this giant jigsaw puzzle. The hand-crafted methodology of assembly played a key role in the success of the two installations.

European oak was primarily selected because of its light color, relatively straight uncomplicated

grain and renewable green credentials. Color wise it was important for the oak timber cladding to be of a light tone, one that achieved relative harmony with the color of the Qatar ‘desert rose’ crystal formations that the museum's design was based upon. European oak's relatively clear grain without excessive knots and color variance was an important consideration in the desire to achieve a relatively uniform appearance while maintaining a surface with a natural timber character.

“The National Museum of Qatar will be the next ‘Bilbao Effect’ and Jean Nouvel’s masterful design is a seeker of architectural magic.

The museums desert rose inspired space is a mirage within which visitors will lose a sense of time wandering between the past and future. The National Museum of Qatar will give a voice to Qatar’s cultural heritage whilst celebrating its future identity,” concluded Takada.

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

Koichi Takada Architects was ensuring color consistency. The bulk of European oak timber sourced for the fabrication of all the timber pieces in the cladding came in the form of premanufactured sheets of uniform thickness oak timber assembled from finger jointed timber pieces of variable length and color. CNC cutting the curved pieces for the cladding out of the sheets created a lot of end grain color variance in the assembled wall surface.

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

Image © Tom Ferguson Photograpy

Image © Tom Ferguson

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3XN to design the tallest timber office building in North America

Image Š 3XN

Newest addition to Toronto’s emerging Bayside community offers flexible work spaces and connects the city to the waterfront

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International real estate firm Hines has announced plans for T3 Bayside, the first office building in Toronto’s emerging Bayside community, located on the shores of Lake Ontario. Designed by the renowned Danish architecture firm 3XN, the 10-storey structure will stand at 42 meters high, becoming the tallest timber office building not only in Toronto, but in all of North America.

3XN was selected by Hines to design an office space as part of the unprecedented 2,000- acre revitalization initiative that will transform Toronto’s waterfront.

T3 Bayside joins 3XN’s two residential buildings in the area - Aqualuna and Aquabella - which activate Toronto’s newest and most dynamic live-work-play community. The new building and adjoining plaza will serve as dynamic visual and pedestrian gateway to the entire neighborhood, connecting residents and visitors to the revitalized waterfront.

“With 3XN’s world class design and the building’s unrivaled amenity offering, T3 Bayside will truly set a new benchmark for creative office space and will ultimately be responsible for creating more than 3,000 jobs at Bayside,” explained Avi Tesciuba, Senior Managing Director and Country Head from Hines.

T3 Bayside is designed to reflect and emphasize the emerging neighborhood in which it sits, a community modeled around the intertwining principals of life, work, and play, offering a multitude of opportunities for the next generation of Torontonians. The building creates a continuously activated ground level, with abundant retail opportunities available on all sides. At the base of the building a new central plaza has been created, around which are additional stepped community and shared spaces, including exhibition and gallery spaces, flexible offices space and coworking facilities.

“We are honored to contribute to the development of this new neighborhood in Toronto,” said Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founder

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and Creative Director of 3XN. “3XN believes in creating buildings that focus on people and contribute to the public realm, which is our aim in this project as well. With T3 Bayside, we created flexible office spaces that can meet the requirements of a diverse group of tenants both at the moment and in the foreseeable future.”

Image © 3XN

Located at the northern edge of the Bayside development, situated along Queens Quay East and flanked by Merchant’s Wharf, T3 Bayside presents an opportunity to enhance and enforce the existing master plan on multiple levels.

Through a series of stepped roof terraces, the building strengthens and emphasizes the movement and heights of the existing master plan at either end of the site.

The same terraces step downwards toward the plaza, a new urban gateway and focal point that invites visitors and residents alike into the Bayside community as a whole.

T3 Bayside marks the entrance to the neighborhood, leading all visitors toward the new waterfront promenade and thus connecting the city of Toronto with Lake Ontario. Equal parts urban market, social space, and landscape, the new plaza is the public heart of the T3 Bayside project. Along the edge of the central plaza, corner lobbies, retail and café spaces are designed with flexibility and operability in mind.

Image © 3XN

The building incorporates flexible event and community spaces that face the plaza on multiple levels, all of which can be used individually or booked together to facilitate various programming and events throughout the year. In this way, all activities within the space are visually connected to the central plaza, assuring that activity within the building is part of the exterior experience as well.

Having established itself as a modern timber office building pioneer with T3 North Loop in Minneapolis, Hines was determined that T3 Bayside break new ground with respect to achieving new heights in heavy timber construction. Hines’ decision to use timber contributes to the sustainability of the building, both

Image © 3XN

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The materiality of timber defines the unique interior aesthetics and will also be reflected in the exterior of the building. Both the material and the shape of the wooden frame will ensure great acoustics.

The use of wood, a breathable and absorbent material that allows

the release of moisture, ensures a naturally regulated and healthy indoor environment.

“Canada, with its great forests, seems a natural place to build the tallest timber office building in North America and we are excited to be part of this development,” said Jens Holm, Partner in charge of 3XN North America and Head of Design for the T3 project.

“The wooden structure will be

a prominent part of the design and provide a warm tactile environment for the tenants that doesn’t compromise sustainability. The flexible layout will be able to meet the diverse needs of the users and bring people together," added Holmes T3 Bayside brings together a flexible office space with a mix of coworking and community spaces, offering an experience that appeals to a broad array of tenants. The shared office

spaces each hold the potential to combine intimate, single-height zones and social, doubleheight zones that suit ideas of coworking and are designed to accommodate a variety of programs. These office spaces can be directly connected to the lobby and help to activate the central plaza. Diagonal cuts in the building volume break the massing down to a more human scale around the plaza and build back up to city scale as they rise across the façade.

Image © 3XN

reducing construction time and allowing the building’s elements to be easily disassembled and reused for other purposes.

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SCM “NeXting Generation” has officially started

SCM introduces latest nesting machining centers at LIGNA 2019

In a world that is moving towards flexible and batch one production, nesting technology is certainly a focal point for furniture manufacturers. The possibility to perform a greater number of machining operations and to also manage shaped pieces allows producers a greater flexibility to manage most operations on a single numerically controlled machine.

With the benefit of “nesting” there are some limitations to traditional nesting machines.

The three main issues that are strictly connected with the nesting process are spoilboard management, productivity (if compared with beam saws) and holding capacity on small pieces.

SCM has designed, developed and tested innovative solutions to overcome these issues for the customers and gives them the opportunity to improve their productivity and flexibility at the same time. The results of work done in recent years are reflected in the new Morbidelli x200 and

x400 CNC Nesting machining centers, which were exclusively presented at LIGNA 2019.

"The new Morbidelli machining centers have been designed on the basis of market feedback. All the most popular innovations of the m100 and m200 Morbidelli machining centers have been transferred to these new designs” said Bruno Di Napoli, Business Unit Manager, SCM Machining Centers. "The new, highly innovative range is the perfect solution for the vast majority

of larger and smaller furniture manufacturers."

A spoilboard is a necessary requirement for nesting as it would not be possible to work directly on the machine’s table without damaging it. However, this brings with it a series of complexities that must be managed by the operators. Starting from the skimming, up to the change of spoilboards that have ended their useful life, or the removal of the spoilboard, when there is a need to work with pods or jigs that must

Image © SCM

Image © SCM

Image © Homag

Image © SCM

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be fixed on the machine’s table.

productivity.

The “NeXting Generation” of SCM machines have exclusive and innovative features, which allow the customer to manage the spoilboard in the easiest possible way, simply not removing it as previously required: executing horizontal drilling on the panel or placing vacuum cups on the table are operations which are involving nothing else but dedicated units with a great saving of time in managing the machine thus increasing flexibility and

Other important innovations introduced concentrate on the ability of the machine to hold down the smallest workpieces while machining. The optimization of the vacuum holding capacity has been, for SCM, one of the main focuses during the development of the new Morbidelli series.

Like many other nesting machines, the new Morbidelli x200 and x400 can be equipped with a zoned worktable that enables suction

areas to be closed when not in use. These are the only machines where it is possible to have the new X-Vacuum system, a real dynamic vacuum activation development, an innovative and automatic feature that carries the vacuum right where it’s needed.

A new labeling system and cutting speed up to 50 m/min will allow SCM customers to reach a productivity like never seen before on a nesting machine. And that’s not all: like the cars many of us drive everyday, it is possible to

use the new Morbidelli series in smooth, neutral or dynamic mode (the equivalent of comfort, drive and sport) in order to quickly customize the execution of programs.

Years of development and investment have led to the new Morbidelli x200/x400 range.

Very high performance, great configurability and a competitive price allows SCM to create a machine tailor made for each customer. The SCM “NeXting Generation” has officially started.

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5,000 m² full of innovations: HOMAG relies on the right solutions Customers invited to discover a solution through HOMAG's holistic approach to modern market requirement and future trends

At LIGNA 2019, HOMAG once again filled the entirety of Hall 14 with machines, software and technical innovations for wood processing - all of which were live and in action for the duration of the show. Small trade businesses and large industrial companies alike felt right at home in more than 5,000 m² of exhibition space. Given the huge range of machinery, cells, systems and software for wood processing, HOMAG required a space large enough to demonstrate its market-leading offerings.

Customers were invited to discover a solution through HOMAG's holistic approach to modern market requirement and future trends. Manufacturers of components also found this year’s new products on an extra-large solid wood platform - covering all topics concerning automation solutions for prefabricated housing

construction. In addition, WEINMANN displayed the latest machine technology for house construction at a trade fair stand in Hall 13.

The heart of the HOMAG stand was the InnovationCenter, where this year, LIGNA visitors could take a journey back in time through the technological milestones in the furniture manufacturing industry.

Looking ahead, HOMAG also demonstrated innovative solutions for the machine operation of the future, the intelligent workpiece and new, smart technologies that have the potential to become future milestones.

Solutions for trade businesses Step-by-step: an overall concept built from single parts

At its stand in Hall 14, HOMAG dealt with central questions

faced by trade businesses, such as: What specific opportunities does digitization offer small and medium-sized businesses today?

Which easy-to-use assistants and features can support carpenters/joiners in their dayto-day work? How can every business find the right building blocks for their own ‘workshop of the future’?

TODAY: What types of technology are already in use today?

The transfer of production data to machines such as a panel dividing saw, in the form of optimized cutting patterns, is already a reality in many companies. Assistance systems are also significantly simplifying work processes. For example, HOMAG developed its range of ‘intelliGuide’ operator assistance systems for machines; these systems show the operators of panel dividing saws, edge banding machines and drilling

machines the next steps to take.

The next step is software-based assistance systems for manual workstations. Using such digital developments should give companies a real chance to tackle the shortage of skilled workers, which is currently a significant problem for the industry in general.

FUTURE: What options is HOMAG offering following LIGNA? Along with the current features, from LIGNA onwards, HOMAG is offering trade customers further tools for enabling businesses to simplify day-to-day work without any great effort and to support processes. However, one thing takes priority above all: the user does not need to invest in an entire system but can instead opt for individual machines, smart hardware, software and digital assistants

Your solution for digital entry At some point, almost every business faces the question of how best to get started.

To this end, HOMAG offers simple entry-level solutions that allow the user to gain transparency, recognize potential for optimization and improve existing production processes. Under the ‘Digital entry’ workshop concept, HOMAG demonstrated a corresponding scenario at LIGNA. One employee accompanies a job throughout the entire production process.

Visitors were able to witness the challenges they face and the

new opportunities they can use to solve these live at LIGNA. Your solution for the networked, digital workshop As part of the ‘Networked, digital workshop’ workshop concept, HOMAG demonstrated at LIGNA how every machine is operated by a single employee.

The areas of work preparation, machinery and the bench room are organizationally separated from one another. The job data is already partially available to machine users in digital form. At LIGNA, users could see how the work processes can be adjusted in a step-by-step process. Each concept includes different focuses and modules, allowing every business to put together the components and digital products that are right for them.

Networked, individual cells and high-performance furniture production For companies using entry-

Image © HOMAG

that communicate with each other and integrate these into their workshop. Visitors were able to experience what exactly this will be like live in Hanover - thanks to the presentation of two new, integrated cell concepts specially designed for carpenters and joiners.

Image © HOMAG

Image © HOMAG

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Image © HOMAG

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level industrial applications for production and those in the industrial furniture production sector, HOMAG also presented an integrated cell concept and a holistic, industrial high-tech solution for industrial operations.

This is also available in various performance classes.

Your solution for networked, individual cells Panel-processing businesses in the medium-sized sector were able to witness an interlinked and fully networked cell that autonomously processes panels live in action. Among other things, driverless transport systems (TRANSBOT), presented for the first time at HOLZ HANDWERK, were used here. The focus was on the interaction between human and machine. This results in a fully autonomous production process from cutting to the finished packed furniture – ready for delivery.

Your solution for highperformance furniture production Visitors from the industrial furniture production sector found new production technologies and approaches in a state-of-the-art solution for batch size 1 format processing and edge processing with high-speed performance.

New features across the board: Surface finishing expertise at LIGNA

Technological developments for surface processing are ongoing at HOMAG. This was also evident at LIGNA 2019: Surface solutions took up a large proportion of the exhibition space at the Hanover trade fair. Machines for surface and profile painting, sanding machines in various performance classes, solid wood profiling as well as the latest developments in laminating were on display. In addition, HOMAG was represent at the Makor stand - HOMAG has cultivated a close and creative partnership with the coating system specialists from Italy for 2 years. HOMAG presented new technologies and features for all aspects of surface processing, offering users new methods for manufacturing high-quality furniture in an ergonomic, smart and efficient way.

InnovationCenter: Future-proof customer solutions since 1960

The heart of the HOMAG stand was the InnovationCenter, where this year, LIGNA visitors were able to take a journey back in time through the technological milestones in the furniture manufacturing industry. How have HOMAG and the entire industry grown with woodprocessing businesses in recent

decades? The world of wood processing is only what visitors could see at LIGNA 2019 thanks to constant exchange and feedback from users.

At the InnovationCenter, HOMAG once again proved that innovation is a part of the company's DNA. The company showed innovative solutions for the machine operation of the future, the intelligent workpiece and new, smart technologies, which have the potential to become future milestones in the furniture manufacturing industry.

The project "proto-lab" (production tomorrow laboratory) also played a substantial role here. The team for the interdisciplinary research project consisted of the TH Rosenheim with four faculties from the university, experts from the HOMAG Group and other partners in the furniture industry as well as the Seeoner Kreis (Seeon Circle).

Together, the team has spent recent months experimenting, analyzing and thinking ahead, developing practicable solutions in the process.

powerTouch2: The next generation

With the powerTouch operating concept, HOMAG revolutionized the art of machine operation in 2013. Now, HOMAG has

adapted the touchscreen operating concept to today’s requirements. The basis for the machine operation is formed by a multi-touch monitor, where the machine functions are controlled using direct touch.

The operation remains child's play: many features are similar to those of a smartphone or a tablet.

This allows almost all HOMAG machines to be operated in the same way.

The machine operation is now more intuitive: the powerTouch2 image screen has a clearer, more transparent layout. The menu design allows the eye to take in all essential elements at a glance. …even faster: the user can input information on the machine more quickly, delivering time savings of around 30 percent compared to the previous version. But how?

Thanks to new features, such as automatic word completion, a pop-up keyboard that can be kept open and Windows-like functions such as the selection of common actions directly via the start button. …even more comfortable: HOMAG has further improved the traffic light dialog. The user can now directly influence the machine’s production readiness by selecting actions directly via the traffic light icon.

Your solution for woodworking machines.

Your partnership with HOMAG will give you a decisive advantage in your market. We develop technologies and have over 1000 registered and pending patents to give you new perspectives to serve your customers better. Our team is highly qualified, passionate and dedicated to make your success our Number 1 priority. All this makes HOMAG your solution.

Explore now: www.homag.com

YOUR SOLUTION

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Biesse showcases groundbreaking technologies for small- to large-scale enterprises Global industry leader presented its latest innovations at LIGNA 2019

Image © Biesse

Image © Riccardo Rossi, Chiara Giombetti and Caterina Canducci

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factories.

Seven ROS (short for Robotically Operated System) were featured at LIGNA with a new and improved Feedback Positioning System that delivers better speed, productivity and safety.

ROS is Biesse’s latest solution for large-scale handling of panels for sizing, boring, sanding, and CNC machines. As shown in the interactive demonstrations, the use of robotic systems has proven to thoroughly maximize efficiency by simplifying processes.

Image © Biesse

On the other hand, a brandnew edgebanding machine for small-scale producers was also introduced. The Akron 1100 is Biesse’s most compact, automatic, single-sided edgebanding machine that takes up the least amount of space in the production area compared to other machines in its category.

The small size of Akron 1100 does not mean it lacks features.

The Akron 1100 is the only machine in the market in its range that offers top-of-the-line components such as the ROTAX motors from HSD, as well as a

"We are currently experiencing a real revolution, an industry-wide transition to digitalization,” said Roberto Selci, CEO of Biesse

Group. “We are at the dawn of a new horizon, a new world that will no doubt bring a host of benefits. We must manage this transition in the best way possible in order to ensure that we continue to grow. Today, a new language is being spoken - the language of the young engineers who take a totally different approach to the ones we once knew, and which, when combined with the experience of those who have been in the company for a number of years, can lead to the development of important new skills."

From small to large-scale technologies

During the exhibition, the company showcased its array of advancements in various categories and demonstrated that these solutions cater not only to large-scale enterprises with sizeable production volumes, but also to small businesses looking for flexibility and personalization from smart

Image © Biesse

Biesse S.p.A. has further strengthened the bond between man and machine, thanks to decades of R&D and investments designed to develop digital factories. Robotization and digitalization of factories were the highlight of the company’s presence at this year’s LIGNA. From its 6,000 square meter stand, the Italian company featured 49 new technologies live in action and three key processes that are now fully automated from the raw material stage down to the finished product stage. The market leader also showcased several integrated lines and robotized cells that displayed never-before-seen levels of customization, modularity, and flexibility, which are the fundamental requirements for contemporary production.

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Available now in the Middle East region, the Akron 1100 boasts of unique features that reveal the outstanding engineering that has gone into this machine - a rigid structure and linear guides with ball blocks that ensure precision, suctions for panel cleaning, and a removable glue unit vat for optimum finishing, to name a few.

Making machines more human through software

Apart from developing technologies that allow for digital transformation, Biesse has also focused on making the machine more “human”. This journey began with SOPHIA, Biesse’s IoT service platform aimed to make the factory more efficient. SOPHIA has now expanded its functionality to embrace predictability, which has greatly improved the machine’s interaction with the customer and significantly reduced the time required for assistance.

By placing people at the heart of machines, Biesse has

developed software that is more user-oriented. In fact, ideas are constantly taken from a dedicated team that closely follows customers’ day-to-day interaction with the software.

This practical approach ensures that software is designed for simple and practical day-to-day use, minimizing complexity.

Part of the stand at LIGNA 2019 was Biesse’s Digital Hub where visitors were able to examine new software applications found in Biesse technologies. These include SOPHIA, B_CABINET, B_PROCESS, B_AVANT, B_SUITE and OPTIPLANNING. One of the most notable software during the event was B_CABINET, an integrated digital manufacturing solution for managing furniture production from the 3D design phase to production flow monitoring.

Designed with designers and architects in mind, B_CABINET allows for the quick transition in a single environment between creating the single elements to generating photo-realistic catalogue images and generating technical prints to producing requirement reports. Purchased

Image © Biesse

seven-inch touchscreen control screen that provides an intuitive user interface.

separately from the machine software, B_CABINET can also be used to operate non-Biesse machines in the production process.

With B_CABINET, there are now limits on design. The interior design has evolved thanks to the integration with Blum, a leading company in the furniture accessories market. B_CABINET is now complemented with a new supplementary module, B_CABINET FOUR, which allows for easier real time monitoring and management of machining phases such as cutting, milling, boring, edgebanding, assembly, and packaging.

B_CABINET FOUR can also be used to quickly and efficiently send information to each workstation of the production process - the job order, the production sequence, additional information on each assembled part or project, the machining and cutting lists, and the PDF

assembly diagram.

Technology from Italy to the world

The year 2018 drew to a close with the highest turnover in Biesse's history, 740.2 million euros in net revenues (+7.3 percent compared to the same period in 2017), with an EBITDA of 92.7 million euros (+3.6 percent), an EBIT of 92.7 million euros (+1.2 percent), and a net profit of 43.8 million euros (+2.6 percent).

In 2018, the company also paid more attention to economic, social, and environmental sustainability issues. The economic value distributed by the group stood at 716 million euros, with 88 percent of purchases from local suppliers in factories in Italy, India and China.

In addition, 260,000 working hours were dedicated to Research and Development activities, with 95 percent of employees on permanent contracts, 443 tons

Image © Biesse

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since our inception in 2009.

We shall continue to provide first-class products and services to our regional customers with the deployment of our award-winning digital service IoT platform SOPHIA in the next coming months. I believe SOPHIA will bring our support service to even greater heights.”

Biesse’s participation in LIGNA this year was part of the group’s golden anniversary celebratory events centered on the theme of looking towards the company’s ‘future’. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of one of its 39 subsidiaries around the world, Biesse Middle East in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Image © Biesse

of CO2 saved through the use of installed solar panels, and a 13 percent decrease in water consumption compared to the previous year.

“Our 10th anniversary is a remarkable milestone for the company especially in the Middle Eastern market," said Renato Manganelli, Managing Director of Biesse Middle East. “We are happy to have delivered continuous training and to have enhanced our support services

Image © Biesse

The creation of a subsidiary for the Middle East region has been key to the successful global expansion of Biesse Group since 1989. Incorporated in 2009, Biesse Middle East continues to provide commercial and technical support to countries in the Middle East region, which represents a significant portion of the company’s customer base.

Situated in Dubai’s Silicon Oasis, a globally recognized technology park that offers 100 percent foreign ownership and state-ofthe-art facilities, Biesse Middle East houses the Dubai Campus, the largest showroom in the region dedicated to woodworking technology. It boasts of a dedicated section for service and spare parts that accommodates in-house and customer training activities.

Biesse Middle East continues to fulfill the group’s goal of showcasing Made-in-Biesse solutions to customers in the Middle East while offering visitors a chance to interact with experts in the field. The company conducts several open houses each year featuring different topics and technologies, on top of one-on-one demos available on demand and customized to the needs of the customer.

Image © Fraser Stephen

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Architects Chan+Eayrs and Sebastian Cox create the ‘Blushing Bar’ for Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in Milan Bar made out of American red oak not only pushes the boundaries of the material but also of its designers and maker

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Image © Petr Krejci

The ‘Blushing Bar’, a vibrant pink circular bar stole the spotlight at the recently concluded Wallpaper* Handmade X: With Love exhibition. Designed by architects Chan + Eayrs and made

by Sebastian Cox, in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), the piece was created to answer the brief of X set by the team at the magazine to celebrate 10 years of its showcase in Milan. Made out of American red oak, the bar not only pushed the boundaries of the material but also of its designers and maker and was on show from April 9-13, 2019 at Salone dei Tessuti.

“We interpreted X as both ‘10’, for Wallpaper* Handmade’s 10th anniversary, but also a kiss for love, hence the name and color of the bar. Love makes one blush, and the heart pound; increasing blood circulation through the body through our veins,” added Merlin Eayrs. “Red oak has a pinkish flesh-like hue, and a porous nature which has capillaries/veins so open you can blow through a short section. These wood veins have been pumped through with deep pink dye by Sebastian Cox, like blood-filled veins through love struck flesh.”

To dye the wood, Sebastian Cox and his team machined a series of uniform holes into the end grain of red oak, around 25mm deep and 14mm x 30mm wide.

The wood was then put into a purpose-made dying jig. The holes in the end grain were filled with red calligraphy ink. According to Cox, by filling a series of holes,

Image © Petr Krejci

According to Zoe Chan, one half of Chan + Eayrs, the ‘Blushing Bar’ is a place of connection, a focal point for coming together and it feels very personal, much like the projects the firm tends to take on. The bar is composed of 10 modules intended for making cocktails (water, alcohol, fruit, herbs, holders, ice, cutting, glass, sodas, wash basin), each of which forms a variation of a curved sculpted element. With its sculptural external facades and sensuous carved feet, the bar combines sculptural qualities with functionality, while celebrating the unique properties of the timber it is made of.

the team ensured the ink was distributed evenly across the board of red oak. Further, by using calligraphy ink, they were able to get a very intense color.

A series of clamps were fastened onto the end of the piece of red oak applying an air-tight rubber seal over the end grain and the holes filled with ink. Once closed, a high-pressured air channel, which was attached to the clamps, was gently opened allowing eight bars

of pressured air into the end grain of the wood and the ink-filled holes. This pressured air forced the ink into the uniquely ring porous structure of red oak, emptying the holes in a matter of seconds.

At this point, the ink in the holes was forced through the pores of the wood, also known as xylem, by the pressured air. Xylem is the name given to the vascular tissue in plants which sends water and dissolved nutrients upwards from the roots of and forms the

woody element of the stem or trunk. The ink in the xylem of the wood, when viewed in the machined pieces of red oak, effectively highlighted the wood’s grain in a bright red color. These highlights were manipulated through the design and manufacture of the bar to produce the finished effect.

“The properties of wood are traditionally thought of in relation to its strength,

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“As a design studio we tend to work with the natural colors of the wood, but it’s been wonderfully freeing to use a vivid color, particularly since we have been using it to highlight the structure of the wood hopefully encouraging people

to think a bit deeper about a really familiar material. What’s more, we believe really strongly that you should use what nature yields and red oak is one of the most abundant species in the American forests and suffers an unfair lack of popularity in Europe. We’ve really enjoyed creating something which will get people to think about less appreciated but incredibly useful

Image © Giovanni Nardi

dappled effect through the xylem and its distinctly large spring growth,” added Cox.

Image © Giovanni Nardi

hardness and weight but when you start looking at the cellular structure of wood you can begin to explore other properties.

Red oak is uniquely ring porous so this project has been a really fun exploration of its cellular composition and how we can use it to achieve a new aesthetic. When you shave a thin slice of it and put it against the light, you get this beautiful

materials, like red oak, in a new way," said Cox. For AHEC’s part, the ‘Blushing Bar’ is yet another chapter in its irresistible mission to redefine red oak through experimentation and new narratives that challenge industry preconceptions. As a timber, AHEC believes red oak has been seriously and unfairly ignored in Europe and other parts of the globe. David Venables, European Director of AHEC, who has supported various Wallpaper* Handmade projects in the past 10 years, says he was initially nervous about the idea of ‘making red oak more red’, but was won over by the creativity and the beauty of the effect.

“Considering that one of the spurious reasons often given for not using red oak is its color, a reference to the fact that it is generally warmer in tone than the white oaks from U.S. and Europe, using red ink could be seen as a provocative approach. But that is what our creative programmes do best: they challenge conventional thinking, stir debate, and most importantly, inspire. Achieving such a dramatic and exciting aesthetic effect by using red oak’s unique cellular structure is very clever and demonstrates how a better understanding of the material can inform the design process,” said Venables.

Cox believes “we are in the dawn of the wood age” and that it’s important to invite people to “constantly reconsider wood as it’s the only material that stores CO2 and is such an obvious part of the solution to our current climate crisis”. He also says the inking process trialed in this bar could definitely be scaled up to make large sheets, potentially even for use in housing as well as furniture. “Exactly what we are doing in our studio could be done in a bigger way.” With its elegant yet playful profile and shape, and its rings of intense pink across its surfaces, the ‘Blushing Bar’ is as far removed from a traditional piece of timber furniture as you can imagine. It’s wood, but not as you’ve seen it before.

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Furniture. Interior. Woodworking

Forstmesse Luzern

Gabon WoodShow

The Big 5 Construct Egypt

FITECMA

EXPODREV

Manchester Furniture Show

WOOD 2019

Australian International Furniture Fair (AIFF)

Sri Lanka Wood International Expo

Decor + Design

Furniture China

Decorex Joburg

FMC China

WOODTECH INDIA

SoFab / Furnica / Drema

Malaysian Furniture & Furnishings Fair (MF3)

BIFE-SIM

June 12 - 15 Atakent Exhibition Center Almaty, Kazakhstan http://mebelexpo.kz/en/index.html .............................................................................................

June 24 - 26 Jardin Botanique Libreville, Gabon www.gabonwoodshow.com/en-US .............................................................................................

July 2 - 6 Costa Salguero Center Buenos Aires, Argentina http://feria.fitecma.com.ar/index.php/en/ .............................................................................................

July 14 - 16 Manchester Central Manchester, United Kingdom www.manchesterfurnitureshow.com .............................................................................................

July 18 - 21 Melbourne Exhibition Center Melbourne, Australia www.aiff.net.au ...........................................................................................

July 18 - 21 Melbourne Exhibition Center Melbourne, Australia www.decordesignshow.com.au .............................................................................................

August 7 - 11 Gallagher Convention Center Johannesburg, South Africa www.reedexpoafrica.co.za/decorex .............................................................................................

August 9 - 11 Chennai Trade Center (Hall - 2 & 3) Chennai, India www.woodtechindia.in .............................................................................................

August 10 - 12 Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia www.mf3.my .............................................................................................

Tecno Mueble Internacional (TMI)

August 14 - 17 Expo Guadalajara Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico www.tecnomueble.com.mx ............................................................................................

August 15 - 18 Allmend Exhibition Center Lucerne, Switzerland www.forstmesse.com/htm/home.htm .............................................................................................

September 2 - 4 Egypt International Exhibition Center Cairo, Egypt www.thebig5constructegypt.com .............................................................................................

September 3 - 6 Siberia ExpoCenter Krasnoyarsk, Russia www.krasfair.ru/en/events/expodrev_en ..............................................................

September 4 - 6 Jyväskylän Paviljonki Jyvaeskylae, Finland www.puumessut.fi/en/wood-and-bioexhibition .............................................................................................

September 6 - 8 Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) Colombo, Sri Lanka http://srilankawood.com/index.html .............................................................................................

September 9 - 12 SNIEC & SWEECC Shanghai, China www.furniture-china.cn/en-us .............................................................................................

September - 12 Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) Shanghai, China9 www.furniture-china.cn/en-us/fmc .............................................................................................

September 10 - 13 Poznan Congress Center Poznan, Poland www.sofab.pl/en | www.furnica.pl/en | www.drema.pl/en .............................................................................................

September 12 - 15 ROMEXPO Exhibition Center Bucharest, Romania www.bife-sim.ro/en .............................................................................................

17 – 19 SEPTEMBER 2019 DUBAI WORLD TRADE CENTRE

Southern Yellow Pine America’s favourite softwood

SYP has a distinctive colour and grain, its sapwood ranging from white to yellowish and heartwood from yellow to reddish-brown. It combines good looks, strength, and extreme ease of preservative treatment with the highest nail-holding ability.

Request your copy of our Guide to American Softwood Species by e-mailing your address to: mail@sfpa.org Left-hand image shows high grade vertical grain SYP flooring.

Main uses Appearance and impact resistance make it suitable for a wide range of decorative uses, such as windows, doors, floors and mouldings. Ease of preservative treatment makes it good for decking and outdoor use.

Physical and mechanical properties Weight ranges from 537 to 626 kg per cubic metre. High density gives it natural strength, weight, and impact and wearing resistance.

It has a higher specific gravity than Scots pine and, although easy to work with, stands up well to rough treatment.

People you can do business with www.AmericanSoftwoods.com