Timber Design & Technology Middle East - September 2020

Rooi Design and Research recycles plywood pavilion to give it a new lease of life Qishe Courtyard: a highly considered rejuvenation of a traditional Chinese residence by ARCHSTUDIO Foster + Partners plants ‘Tree Canopy’ in the center of Apple World Central Heatherwick Studio unveils plant-filled Maggie’s Center in Leeds X+Living redefines the bookstore concept with Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing Work from home in this pre-fabricated timber cabin by Hello Wood

Image © Mark Goodwin

FROM FOREST TO FINISH T.ZED Architects have wrapped KOA Canvas - a unique new residential community in Dubai representing a new era in modernized urban property development with thermally-modified American tulipwood.

Over 750 square meters of tulipwood have been used to create the cladding element which shades and prevents overheating of the double-height co-working and closed office spaces, and which also transforms into an outdoor shaded walkway and elevated public balcony. This is the first time that thermally-modified tulipwood has been specified in these quantities in the region and the architects are confident that the material will weather and stand the test of time in this arid desert climate.

For more information visit www.americanhardwood.org

Rooi Design and Research recycles plywood pavilion to give it a new lease of life Qishe Courtyard: a highly considered rejuvenation of a traditional Chinese residence by ARCHSTUDIO Foster + Partners plants ‘Tree Canopy’ in the center of Apple World Central Heatherwick Studio unveils plant-filled Maggie’s Center in Leeds X+Living redefines the bookstore concept with Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing Work from home in this pre-fabricated timber cabin by Hello Wood

Qishe Courtyard © Wu Qingshan

September 2020 Issue 48 PUBLISHER Andy MacGregor publisher@citrusmediagroup.net +971 55 849 1574

MARKETING DIRECTOR Eric Hammond marketing@citrusmediagroup.net INTERNATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR James Hamilton james@timberdesignandtechnology.com EDITOR Tony Smith editor@timberdesignandtechnology.com

Timber Design & Technology is published 4 times a year

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EDITOR’S NOTE Our September issue features a host of timber projects from all across the globe and the one constant is that timber is being embraced as the material of choice by a greater number of architects and designers. What’s more, building regulations and policy initiatives are further encouraging the boom in the usage of wood in applications, which a decade ago would have been unthinkable.

A case in point is the work being done by Leers Weinzapfel Associates. In their exclusive article for this issue, Tom Chung and Ashley Rao from LWA highlight the tremendous potential for wood construction and throw the spotlight on some of their recent projects to further emphasize the role they are playing in the innovative exploration of the true potential of timber.

Timber buildings are sprouting up the world over. There are now nearly 600 built or planned wooden commercial buildings in the contiguous U.S., according to The Wood Products Council. According to JLL MENA, whilst greater sustainability and lower costs have helped usher in this wooden construction boom, policy initiatives are also playing a big role. The main draw for policymakers being sustainability.

Producing concrete and steel is highly carbon-intensive, together accounting for nearly 10 percent of global emissions. By contrast, trees capture and store carbon dioxide as they grow - around one ton per cubic meter - making mass timber a much more climate-friendly building material.

Earlier this year, Heatherwick Studio unveiled its design for Maggie’s Leeds, which uses several ‘healthy’ materials and energy-saving techniques including a prefabricated and sustainablysourced spruce timber system. The team designed a structure that could be built off-site and assembled quickly on a concrete slab and retaining wall with minimal disruption. The entire building superstructure was manufactured in Switzerland and fixed together on site in just eight weeks. In addition, the interior of the center explores everything that is often missed in healing environments: natural and tactile materials, soft lighting, and a variety of spaces designed to encourage social opportunities as well as quiet contemplation.

As always, I would like you to visit our website - www.timberdesignandtechnology.com - for the latest updates and sign up if you would like to receive a copy of the magazine. In closing, I would like to thank our advertisers, our partners and our readers.

CONTENTS

10 SUSTAINABILITY

36 COMMENT

Paradise by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a net zero carbon six-storey timber building

Engineered wood construction is booming, and policy initiatives further encourage its rise

14 SUSTAINABILITY

40 COMMENT

An ecological and social response to the climate, terrain and culture of Roatán by Zaha Hadid Architects

NHG Timber: A friend to the trade

20 ANALYSIS

58 TALL TIMBER

Rooi Design and Research recycles plywood pavilion to give it a new lease of life

Atlassian to build the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower for its new headquarters

24 ANALYSIS

62 TALL TIMBER

Qishe Courtyard: a highly considered rejuvenation of a traditional Chinese residence by ARCHSTUDIO

Perkins & Will complete a sculptural landmark and coffee house in the heart of Vancouver’s emerging art, design, and innovation district

30 COMMENT

68 TECHNOLOGY

Floored by Malaysian timbers

‘SCM Live Show’ is an unprecedented success

32 COMMENT

74 WOOD WORKS

Leers Weinzapfel Associates: Advancing the Timber Typology at All Scales

Work from home in this prefabricated timber cabin by Hello Wood

DESIGN & DECOR

42 Apple World Central

48 Maggie's Leeds Center

52 Zhongshuge bookstore

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Bentley offers the world’s first threedimensional wood panels in the new Flying Spur

The concept for 3D-machined wood was first shown in Bentley’s EXP 10 Speed 6 concept car at the Geneva Motor Show in 2015, and received wide acclaim. The distinctive feature was inspired by the form of leather used for the diamondquilted areas in Bentley’s Mulliner Driving Specification interior suite. Threedimensional wood required 18 months of production

Image © Bentley Motors Ltd

The three-dimensional wood parts are not made using veneers, as is typically applied to the fascia and waist rails.

Instead, each is created from a single block of timber. To achieve the three-dimensional surface, skilled operators carve the wood with a multi-axis routing machine to a tolerance of 0.1mm, less than the thickness of a human hair, handfinishing the cuts for perfect results. An open-pore lacquer is then applied, allowing the true color and texture of the wood to shine through for a refined, natural appearance.

Bentley’s Head of Interior Design for the Flying Spur, Brett Boydell, comments: “Threedimensional wood is the next interior design element we’ve taken from concept car idea to production reality. It works in perfect harmony with the threedimensional leather quilting across the cabin of the Flying Spur and creates an even more special environment for those being driven.”

“The principle of milling a geometric three-dimensional

Image © Bentley Motors Ltd

The new option is one of the unique veneer choices from the Bentley Mulliner ‘Collections’ and forms a contemporary luxury design statement, bringing tactility to the natural beauty of wood. Each rear door and quarter panel is handcrafted from a single block of sustainable American walnut or cherry, in a harmonious marriage of traditional skills and modern technology.

development by expert technical craftsmen before Bentley Mulliner could then bring the complex concept to reality.

diamond form into solid wood was so well received at Geneva, it confirmed the value in translating the concept into reality for the customers of Bentley’s all-new Flying Spur,” added Boydell.

Image © Bentley Motors Ltd

Bentley Motors is offering a ground-breaking new threedimensional wood rear door trim for the first time, launched for the all-new Flying Spur.

Three-dimensional wood is a world-first for the automotive sector - a striking, diamondshaped pattern enhanced with a three-dimensional surface finish machined directly into the wood.

The back or ‘B surface’ of the log is machined to match a die cast aluminum door panel template.

The timber is then bonded to the template before the assembly is placed back into the machine and the front or ‘A surface’ is cut into

its three-dimensional form.

Both American Walnut and American Cherry timber are sustainably sourced from North American hardwood forests.

Bentley selects the very finest timbers, with no knots or resin inclusions through the depth of the wood. Only these logs offer an attractive grain and smooth finish, plus a natural texture and warm color to complement the superbly appointed Flying Spur cabin.

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AHEC announces design collaboration for Dubai Design Week For the upcoming edition of Dubai Design Week, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is collaborating with three local designers and their teams to design and develop - ‘Please Sit Here’ - a seating project in the form of benches for outdoor use in a public space that ensures people who sit on it are 2 meters apart following the current mandatory requirement of physical distancing, but also can also be converted to accommodate more people, closer together, as and when the time comes for distancing regulations to be relaxed. This will ensure that the benches retain a legacy as functional public seating in the future.

The idea behind ‘Please Sit Here’ is conceived as a response to the behavioral change brought about by the pandemic, especially in regards to physical or ‘social distancing’, coined to reference the space we need to leave between each other, effecting and dominating the way we live, interact and the decisions we make. While incredibly important in the fight against the spread of COVID-19, this project aims to tackle the difficulty in adapting to regulations that inhibit normal social behavior that does not come naturally to people, that are social by nature.

The project draws inspiration from AHEC’s many ambitious collaborations to date with multiple design teams, imaginative briefs, innovative designs and the very best of wood craftsmanship - around the world including the UAE, Europe, Australia and South Africa. For over 30 years, AHEC has been at the forefront of international wood

promotion, successfully building a distinctive and creative brand for U.S. hardwoods by demonstrating the performance and aesthetic potential of these sustainable materials, while providing valuable creative inspiration and technical advice.

AHEC has asked each designer to select from three U.S. hardwood species, which are red oak, soft maple and tulipwood. Together, these three species account for nearly 40 percent of the eastern hardwood forests of the USA, one of the largest and most sustainable hardwood resources in the world. Given that these benches will be for outdoor use, the wood will be thermally-modified. This is a nonchemical modification process, carried out in the United States by the hardwood lumber producer and exporter. Thermally-modified timber (TMT) is ideal for outdoor use, as it has both increased durability and dimensional stability.

Thermally-modified timber is increasing in popularity around the world and is ideal in applications such as cladding, decking and shading structures, as well as in outdoor furniture. This material is not currently used widely in the Gulf region, but it has so much to offer as a natural and low-environmental impact alternative to some tropical hardwoods or wood-plastic composites (WPC). The three finished benches will be unveiled during Dubai Design Week, which is set to run from November 9 - 14, 2020.

Image © Global Woodshow

First virtual edition of the Global WoodShow to take place from September 7 - 9, 2020

The first virtual edition of Global WoodShow is all set to take place from September 7 - 9, 2020. According to the organizers, exhibitors and visitors will be able to avail an umpteen amount of benefits such as reduced participant cost, networking with elite industry experts, promotion of brand scope and portfolio digitally, increased return of investment, direct networking and chatting opportunities between exhibitors and visitors, exclusive deals on offer and strong opportunities to close business deals with serious buyers virtually.

To ease B2B meetings, video meetings shall be conducted through the platform, which will allow the participants to easily connect and put forward their ideas and best practices. Keen exhibitors seeking an incomparable chance at attaining global exposure can launch their latest products and technologies. 24 hours of online interaction will be provided by the WoodShow portal which will cater to all requirements. Visitors can register their virtual visit and attend the show from 9:00am to 6:00pm daily (Dubai time, GMT+4).

Acknowledging the ongoing circumstances of the current global crisis

creating uncertainty, travel bans and restrictions, the Global WoodShow aligns with all precautionary measures and has initiated a safe virtual exhibition to encourage business continuity and continue supporting the wood and woodworking industry.

Participants can engage in a virtual business-to-business meeting place for the wood, wood accessories and woodworking machinery industry. Suppliers, manufacturers & machinery companies can showcase their products, innovative technologies, production scenarios and large-scale machinery virtually.

Dawood Al Shezawi, President, WoodShow Global Organizing Committee said: “The WoodShow promises to provide a high-quality annual business event that will offer abundant opportunities to industry professionals. It will be a valuable experience as we bring key decision makers from the industry to you. This virtual platform will gather exhibitors from countries around the world with no travel hassle. You will not only be able to interact with your suppliers safely but also open up new doors to reactivate your business.”

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Image © Biesse

Biesse Group launches state-of-the-art facility dedicated to research & development and innovation

Biesse Group has announced the launch of the Biesse Innovation Lab, a major new project in the field of Research & Development and Innovation, which is set to serve as an accelerator for new ideas and start-ups of the highest quality; a stimulating and dynamic environment in which to cultivate links with the world of academia, universities and research centers, and with other accelerators, venture capital firms and companies, with a view to further enhancing the Group’s innovation ecosystem.

The Biesse Innovation Lab was created in accordance with a number of objectives based upon high-level innovation, with the intention to seek solutions not only within the organization but also outside of it, through interaction with its points of reference in Israel and Italy. The lab boasts a dual identity: in Israel, it will be developed in collaboration with the AdlerInlight Technology Observatory, an organization created in order to bring together industry and innovation on the Italian territory, and in Italy, the lab will be developed with the support of Manifaktura, a company with expertise in the implementation of open innovation initiatives and with experience in managing innovative projects in the manufacturing sector.

“To open our company boundaries in order to broaden the horizons of our minds: this is the two-way principle according to which Biesse Group seeks to lead the Biesse Innovation Lab. The process of digital transformation we are currently experiencing involves change at all levels, and it is only by seizing every opportunity that this revolution offers that we can continue to be innovators,” explained Roberto Selci, CEO of Biesse Group, at the event which saw the formal launch of the project, also attended by Agmon Porat of HamLet Israel’s LetLab, the Italian Ambassador to Israel Gianluigi Benedetti and Jonathan Hadar, Head of the Israel Economic Mission in Italy.

“When it comes to innovation, we really have our foot on the accelerator, and this is something that has been made possible not only

by our internal expertise, but also - and above all - by the fact that we are able to look outwards, allowing opportunities and solutions to flow both ways, from the outside to the inside of the company and vice versa. Our goal is to become an accelerator of innovation and research, creating a fertile, flexible environment from which all those involved can benefit,” added Paolo Tarchioni, Director of Innovation of Biesse Group.

The new organization, created by Biesse Group in collaboration with the other players involved in the project, will integrate technological, business and organizational themes via a team focused on multifunctional development, consisting of staff from both inside and outside the organization, with the participation of managers, analysts, creatives, engineers and experts in marketing and sales. At the heart of the project is a strategic approach which embraces interaction and the exchange and dissemination of knowledge, with an understanding of the value of fostering a synergy between different organizations and of exchanging skills.

Roberta Anati, CEO of AdlerInlight in Israel, said: “Innovation is born of the encounters that take place between people; we immediately established a sense of mutual professional inspiration with Roberto Selci, which has served to breathe life into this new model for the creation of innovation. We share a desire to create winning ecosystems and to bring positivity and added value to Italy.”

“We are very proud to contribute to the creation of the Biesse Innovation Lab, in the certainty that the skills that generate innovation are part of a collective action that takes place through a network of actors, connections and relationships, locally and globally. Biesse Group and its partners are thus able to face the challenges related to Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy, finding agile solutions, but at the same time relevant, innovative and sustainable,” concluded Francesco Balducci, CEO of Manifaktura.

09

Record participation at interzum guangzhou Suspense and great anticipation accompanied the launch of the first Koelnmesse event since the coronavirus crisis began. interzum guangzhou, which ran from July 27 - 30, 2020 proved that trade fairs with strict hygiene regulations in place and a limited number of admissions - in the food-service areas, for example - are possible in spite of the pandemic and can result in a good commercial and even overcome expectations, as was the case with over 145,000 visitors to this year’s edition, which broke the record from the previous event. interzum guangzhou marked the first major platform for the international furniture manufacturing and supply sector in the second half of this year. A total of 1,607 exhibitors from 16 countries and almost 145,363 visitors took the opportunity to meet vendors, customers and business partners again in person, building and strengthening relationships and reconnecting as an industry.

As expected, the total number of exhibitors was lower compared to the statistical results of the previous interzum guangzhou.

Nevertheless, there were still international exhibitors taking advantage of the event. Among them was an official German delegation comprised of a total of eight German exhibitors; their appearance was successfully supervised by local employees or sales partners on location.

Image ©interzum guangzhou

“In the current situation, the most important thing is for our customers to feel comfortable and safe at our events,” explained Keith Tsui, Managing Director of the Chinese Koelnmesse subsidiary.

“As event professionals, we see ourselves in a position to create conditions that are conducive to trade fairs, even in times such as these.”

In terms of visitors, the trade fair was focused primarily on the Chinese

Image ©interzum guangzhou

market. From the first day of the trade fair, it recorded excellent and only slightly lower numbers of national visitors in comparison to the previous event. On the third day of the event, a record number of visitors was achieved compared to previous events. According to Tsui, this was proof that visitors felt safe and enjoyed spending several days and more time at the show.

This makes the event a role model for returning to normalcy following months of uncertainty - and a successful digital extension of the event’s reach: For international customers who were unable to travel to the venue due to travel restrictions, interzum guangzhou offered ‘Offline2Online Live Business Matching’. International visitors joined in the proceedings digitally from home, virtually meeting with the exhibitors on hand to cultivate business relationships and present new products.

Image ©interzum guangzhou

“For all of our events - whether in Cologne, with our B-SAFE4business concept, or abroad in coordination with our subsidiaries - we have developed detailed hygiene concepts that enable our customers to conduct business with one another directly,” added Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse. “Trade fairs have an absolute systemic relevance for the global economic fabric, and for many participants they are actually of existential importance.”

“90 percent of the exhibitors in the Koelnmesse programme are small or medium-sized enterprises for which international trade fairs represent the main gateway to the global market. Our mission, as an international trade fair organizer, is to give the industries involved the propulsive power they need for their business. And we take this mission very seriously,” concluded Böse.

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Paradise by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a net zero carbon sixstorey timber building Studio designs carbon-neutral office in line with its Architects Declare commitments

Image © FCBStudios

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Image © FCBStudios

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Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Bywater Properties have been granted planning permission for a six-storey net zero carbon office development in Vauxhall.

The scheme, named Paradise, will replace the disused Costa Coffee roastery on Old Paradise Street and transform a neglected and disused site into 60,000 square feet of flexible work and maker space. Paradise will be a landmark timber framed building.

The building will have a crosslaminated timber (CLT) structure and an extruded terracotta façade and the proposals are on target for almost 60 years of a negative carbon footprint.

Alex Whitbread, Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios said: “Paradise was born of a collective approach to sustainable design, humanistic values and quality place-making, but also the desire to make a healthy and

innovative workplace that people would love to use. Paradise is designed to be part of its local and citywide community and to make a responsible contribution globally.

With this scheme receiving planning permission, we hope it will set the standard for office design that is net carbon zero and has the wellbeing of the user at the fore. We are looking forward to bringing it to fruition.”

The architecture studio designed the carbon-neutral office as it focuses on creating more sustainable architecture to meet the aims of climate change network Architects Declare. Its structure, which was designed with Webb Yates Engineers, will be a combination of CLT slabs and cores, glued laminated timber (glulam) beams and some supporting steel beams on a concrete foundation. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios calculated that

the sequestered carbon contained in the timber is sufficient to make up for the carbon emissions generated during the construction process as well as the first 60 years of the building's operation.

"As founding signatories of Architects Declare, we have made a public commitment to creating net-zero carbon buildings by 2030, and it is our aim on every building we design," said Joe Jack Williams, Associate at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. "For the Old Paradise Street development, we have an opportunity to provide a net-zero carbon building that can host environmentally conscious businesses that can't afford to build their own building.”

“The initial carbon sequestered by the timber structure will offset the rest of the embodied carbon for the structure and facade, in addition to nearly 60 years of

operational carbon emissions,” said Williams. “Accounting for the sequestered carbon in this way is not widely done, and we wanted to meet that debate head-on so we can have clarity moving forward. There is already a focus on operational carbon for buildings, particularly in London, but for Paradise we've been able to talk about the increasing issue of embodied carbon, moving away from carbon-intensive concrete and steel towards renewable materials.”

The generous floor heights and flexible open-plan layout, in combination with the servicing strategy, will create a building that is future flexible and low energy in use. This whole life approach to the building has also been reflected in the careful consideration given to the end of life strategy, such as connections for the structure allowing for easy

disassembly. The workplace will support the health and wellbeing of future occupiers from within the building and has been designed with WELL standards in mind. The timber structure will be exposed, with natural light and ventilation maximized throughout.

At the second floor level, the open floor plate will bring a strong visual connection from passing trains to the historic Old Paradise Gardens. The site is a key link in the green chain that joins Waterloo to Vauxhall.

The façade’s design draws inspiration from the former Royal Doulton Headquarters nearby and the glazed ceramic cladding reflects a progressive approach, which uses traditional materials in a contemporary manner.

Within the building, the glulam

beams and CLT floor plates will be exposed throughout the office spaces. According to Williams, from a sustainability viewpoint, CLT is one of the few renewable structural materials available and can be mechanically fixed to enable it to be simply reused at the end of its life. In addition to being sustainable, it also provides a beautiful, warm, natural finish that fits into the overall aim of delivering a healthy environment.

Bywater has proposed that up to 13 percent of the total floor area should be non-office (light industrial and maker space) of which 68 percent is affordable and made available first to local businesses. Options for a number of layouts have been developed with Bywater, which respond to the current and future requirements of the workplace.

Theo Michell, Principal of Bywater

Image © FCBStudios

Image © FCBStudios

Image © FCBStudios

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Properties commented: “We are extremely proud to have received planning permission for Paradise at what is a critical time for our environment and economy. We know that if we are to make a sustainable recovery from the impact of COVID-19, we must build in a way which is cleaner, greener and healthier than before. We believe this project sets a benchmark for healthy and environmentally aware design.

At Bywater, we are committed to exploring sustainable and lowcarbon alternatives for buildings and we look forward to bringing our plans for Paradise to life.”

Richard Walker, Chairman of Bywater Properties and Managing Director of Iceland Foods commented: “Receiving planning permission for Paradise is the result of many years of hard work and we are grateful to Lambeth Council for their decision.

Vauxhall is a fantastic area for this kind of development, bringing new businesses and employment opportunities and complementing the Albert Embankment opportunity area.

The Bywater team has worked hard to create something truly special for this site and we are excited to be continuing our journey.”

The development will enable the creation of jobs in Lambeth, and in providing this kind of flexible workspace encourage the creative industries to operate in this part of London. The designs champion a careful consideration and appreciation of the local heritage and rich history of the area, and the relationship with neighboring Old Paradise Gardens gives the kind of access to green spaces that is typically hard to achieve in central London.

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An ecological and social response to the climate, terrain and culture of Roatán by Zaha Hadid Architects

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Design of Roatán Próspera Residences promotes the use of local materials, craftsmanship and manufacturing facilities which support the economy of the region

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Erick A. Brimen, CEO of Honduras Próspera LLC, explains: “The design prioritizes sustainability and is integral to our vision for Roatán Próspera. The island of Roatán is already a renowned tourist destination. Roatán Próspera will strengthen and diversify the local economy while creating homes defined by their natural environment.”

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

With considerable reductions in waste material, and a higher quality of construction due to the greater precision achieved

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Working with AKT II, the design approach starts from a comprehensive understanding of the local supply chain, logistics and construction techniques to promote the use of local materials, craftsmanship and

manufacturing facilities, all of which support the economy of the region. The design’s modular system is founded on the use of sustainable timber, sourced nearby from certified forests on the Honduran mainland and treated locally, to form the main structural elements.

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects with AKT II and Hilson Moran have developed a digital architectural platform to create homes for Roatán Próspera. The residential designs are a specific ecological and social response to the climate, terrain and culture of Roatán in the Caribbean, the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. The designs learn from the wisdom of the past, integrating the local vernacular tradition of timber construction, climatic appropriateness and spatial experience with new digital design, engineering and construction techniques.

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

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Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

by off-site fabrication, this modular system of assembly is a cost-controlled solution specifically tailored to local supply chains, transportation and installation. The dimensions of the structure’s base timber units have been established to follow the constraints of the local transportation networks to ensure carbon emissions and logistics costs are minimized.

Digital information technologies optimize the use of all parts of the sustainably-forested logs to minimize waste and pollution.

This process also contributes to reducing the embedded construction energy and carbon footprint of the development.

The use of lightweight timber also results in a reduced and adaptive foundation system that can be fabricated off-site, keeping intervention to the site minimal and giving maximum protection to the site’s native flora and fauna.

Divided into a ‘kit of parts’ that is quickly assembled on site, the design approach is centered around ensuring local craftsmen, tradesmen and construction teams also benefit from the knowledge and experience obtained by working with new technologies; building lasting relationships between homeowners and the local community that will help new residents to integrate with local culture. All suppliers will be given full assistance to develop their product lines to the 3D digital information model of the houses and the terrain.

Hilson Moran developed the design’s passive environmental control and water cycle strategies to minimize energy consumption by reducing temperatures to improve thermal comfort, with

little or no requirements for mechanical ventilation. Dynamic thermal modelling was used to validate user comfort and energy consumption parameters.

Optimizing renewable resources to reduce energy consumption and generate water, the modules are designed to be self-shading, open and oriented towards the prevailing sea breeze for natural cooling. Local, natural materials and ground coupling provide further cooling to interior spaces. When required, water is removed from the atmosphere for supplementary cooling by dehumidification. This water is harvested and filtered and available for use in each home.

For self-sufficient and net zero carbon operations, shading canopies are optimally shaped to accommodate photovoltaic arrays for renewable power generation. Batteries will store renewable electricity for future use. The design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) approach has been carefully instilled into the design of the structural kit of parts, while smart timber connections allow for quick assembly and disassembly, giving the potential to reconfigure the residence or recycle any element of the modular kit.

Integrated services and insulation will be pre-assembled and installed within this structural system, which also performs as a robust structural frame and building envelope with enhanced thermal and acoustic performance. The configuration platform ensures adjacent units have consistent service locations to minimize on-site connection.

The digital configuration platform allows home-owners to plan

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Extensive feasibility studies have informed the design of the platform’s kit of parts using a library of spatial and building elements tailored to the ecology and supply chain of Roatán.

These adapt digital design and fabrication methods to incorporate the skills, experience and craftsmanship of local building traditions and culture. Particular care has been given to ensuring the designs are sustainable and feasible within the environment of Roatán; incorporating vernacular design features such as palapas and other naturally ventilated spaces, the use of locally sourced timber, passive shading, rainwater collection and cooling-pools.

A principle underpinning the configuration platform is threedimensional property rights with homeowners acquiring occupational and exclusion rights for units of 3D space called volume-pixels or voxels. Their residences will be algorithmically computed to fit within their

chosen arrangement of voxels.

Each voxel is 35 sqm in plan-area and 4 meters high. Residential units vary from 35 sqm studios (1 voxel), to 175 sqm family homes (5 voxels). This parametric approach to the design of each residence and overall composition of the development yields many different possibilities united by a coherent formal logic and materiality.

of their residence to fit their preferred number of voxels.

These choices are exponential in nature, with at least 15,000 different variations to configure the maximum of 5 voxels. The configuration platform adapts each residence to the terrain and other particulars of the site include views and minimizing any earthworks during assembly.

Homeowners can use the platform to customize the spatial layout

The platform also gives a choice of built-in furniture modules

and spatial arrangements to suit individual lifestyles and preferences. These modules include walk-in wardrobes and conversation pits and are designed to integrate into the walls or contained in islands within each room. Homeowners can also appoint local suppliers to create furniture specific for each room using the digital assets that the configuration platform provides including the 3D model of the home.

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

Applying parametric design software developed by the Computational and Design Group at ZHA (ZHCODE) and the Computational Engineering Team at AKT II, (P.ART), the platform ensures that each residence is developed specifically to the configuration defined by each homeowner. It also ensures that each home is fundamentally sustainable by using as little material and energy as possible in its construction and operation with the shapes of each element within the building being environmentally appropriate, particularly from a solar and ventilation perspective.

Image © Zaha Hadid Architects

their homes and connect with local suppliers; bringing the construction and operational benefits from the digitization of the buildings. The platform can be used to accommodate the specific spatial needs of family members, share resources and costs with neighbors and allow flexibility for communal modules such as a children’s play area. This digital platform adapts varying configurations of standardized parts to create individual residences that suit each homeowner.

Southern Yellow Pine

STRONG. BEAUTIFUL. SUSTAINABLE.

Main Uses Appearance and impact resistance make Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) suitable for a wide range of decorative uses, such as windows, doors, floors, and mouldings. Ease of preservative treatment makes SYP good for decking and outdoor use.

Physical and Mechanical Properties Weight ranges from 537 to 626 kg per cubic metre. High density gives SYP natural strength, weight, and impact and wearing resistance. SYP has a higher specific gravity than Scots pine and stands up well to rough treatment while remaining easy to work with.

Learn more about America’s favourite timber at:

AmericanSoftwoods.com

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Rooi Design and Research recycles plywood pavilion to give it a new lease of life Trade show pavilion transformed into 410 furniture pieces for rural Chinese community

Image © Feng Shao

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According to the team at Rooi Design and Research, in today’s world of rapid business development, many exhibitors construct large, purpose-built temporary showrooms or pavilions. However, after the exhibition, the construction waste and materials associated with these pavilions cannot be cleaned properly and recycled, which causes a lot of unnecessary waste and pollution. The issue of emissions also appears to have been largely ignored as well. Furniture Pavilion S was the studio’s response - a comprehensive and sustainable design solution that points the way forward for us all.

The primary construction material for the pavilion was plywood, which is one of the most familiar materials in furniture manufacturing. At the end of the exhibition, this plywood can easily be recycled for secondary use. The materials for the pavilion consisted of 821 pieces of market standard size (1.22m×1.22m) plywood, which is the most economical design structure used for processing.

The biggest advantage of this design is that it is simple to construct and can be fully assembled within 48 hours, which drastically minimizes time and construction costs.

Pavilion S is not just a furniture showroom; it is a place where one can relax and rest during

the exhibition. The facade of the building uses two different cubes and the four facades have become display windows for the furniture, giving audiences different views at various angles. The furniture display can be clearly seen, and the transparent facade captures plenty of sunlight, while the 1.22m deep window prevents the sun from shining directly into the pavilion.

The main structure is a combination of wood and steel, while the roof is designed as a hyperboloid (positive and negative arch-beam steel structure roof). The pavilion doesn’t have any columns, presenting the whole exhibition area in a clean, sleek manner.

The architects believed that the complexity should be left in the design and technique of the building process, whilst giving the audience an impression of clear and easy to understand, and bright and eco-friendly to the city.

This year, the architects managed to recycle the entire pavilion and built a total of 410 sets of tables and chairs in the most economical way for rural communities. Every piece of 1.22m×1.22m of recycled plywood can be transformed into a perfect hexagon table or 3 rectangle chairs. In regards to the interpersonal relationships in small rural communities, the architects have designed the furniture, which can be combined into different forms to increase the interactivity and fun, and at the same time enrich the community activities.

Installed a the Comprehensive Cultural Service Center in a small town in Fuqing, Fujian Province, China, the furniture has a playful set up that can be added to, and pieced together for communal use. Like its predecessor, the collection is modular, with each piece given geometric shapes that can be playfully slotted together with others to make different configurations. Rooi Design and Research hopes the project will inform more sustainable trade show design and that the furniture will facilitate interaction between people in the rural community.

Image © Feng Shao

Furniture Pavilion S was a temporary modular structure that Rooi Design and Research designed for a furniture exhibitor at the Shanghai International Furniture Fair 2019. Developed as an easily dismantlable and sustainable showroom for Side Furniture, a brand exhibiting at the fair, the pavilion was made from plywood with a view towards recycling the plywood into chairs and tables after the exhibition. A year on and now, the studio has transformed the pavilion into furniture for a community in rural China, with the aim of demonstrating how trade shows can be more eco-friendly by employing the principles of a circular economy.

Image © Ming Chen

Image © Ming Chen

Image © Feng Shao

Image © Ming Chen

Image © Ming Chen

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Qishe Courtyard: a highly considered rejuvenation of a traditional Chinese residence by ARCHSTUDIO Studio preserves the textures of traditional architectural materials whilst adding some new materials to present the contrast and fusion between the new and old

Image © Wang Ning

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Located within the old quarter of Beijing, the Siheyuan before renovation was old and dilapidated. The basic wooden beams and some arched door openings featuring the style of the Republican era were relatively well preserved, while most of the roofs, walls, doors and windows were badly damaged or missing. In the three courtyards, there were many temporary architectural blocks inserted many years ago. After demolishing those blocks, the yards were filled with construction waste and overgrown with weeds, presenting a bleak view.

In approaching the project, ARCHSTUDIO set two goals: renovating the old and inserting the new. On the one hand, the designers neatened the houses, repaired all the building surfaces, and reinforced the architectural structures, with a view to reproducing the appearance of the traditional Siheyuan. On the other hand, they brought in new living facilities such as bathroom, kitchen and garage, HVAC pipes and lines, as well as new veranda spaces. The old and new are integrated into a new whole, to better meet the future functional demands of reception and living for the compound.

ARCHSTUDIO embedded a veranda - a basic element of traditional Chinese architecture, into the old Siheyuan to link up the seven separated pitchedroof houses. The veranda

Image © Wang Ning

Chinese design firm ARCHSTUDIO has renovated an abandoned hutong in Beijing, making a house with curving glass walls around internal courtyards. Originally the hutong was a style of courtyard residence known as a Siheyuan (a typology of traditional Chinese residence) with three courtyards, with a total length and width of 15 and 42 meters.

The project is called ‘Qishe’ - ‘Qi’ and ‘she’ translates to ‘seven’ and ‘house’ respectively - and because its address number in the hutong is 7 and it originally consisted of seven pitched-roof buildings.

functions as a circulation route, reshapes the spatial pattern and layers, and provides a playful walking experience as well as fantastic views.

The front courtyard is mainly used as a garage. ARCHSTUDIO retained its pitched roof, removed the front and back walls, and shifted the entrance door to the side, so as to leave more space for parking.

The design team restored and preserved many valuable historical elements such as the gateway and carvings of the arched door opening, and even a dry tree. In addition, the wall between the front and middle courtyards was dismantled and replaced by a transparent veranda.

The veranda features a curved plane, and presents variations according to different landscapes and spatial functions. It's closely combined with the curved edges of the pitched roofs, hence forming several arc-shaped transparent spaces, which integrate the houses, landscape and the

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The middle courtyard is a public activity space. It previously contained three houses, one on the north, two on the sides. Based on its original layout, ARCHSTUDIO set a living room, a tea room, a dining room and a kitchen in this area. The designers adopted a symmetric spatial pattern, which inherits the sense of formality of traditional courtyard buildings. In addition, they replaced the former stairs that led to houses with gentle slopes. The slopes and the transparent veranda together enhance the connectivity between the indoor spaces and the open courtyard. The dining room has a folding door, which can open the interior to the outside space completely and extend indoor activities to the courtyard as well.

In the middle of the dining room's back wall, there is an arched door, which was restored and becomes the entrance to the back courtyard. This back courtyard is a dwelling space, mainly consisting of two bedrooms, a tea room, and a study. Its original layout is the same as that of the middle courtyard. The veranda in this area has an undulating plane, which interacts with the three old trees that already existed in the courtyard and at the same time forms several small arc-shaped leisure spaces.

The bedrooms are set at the backmost area, featuring a symmetric spatial layout based on the roof ridge. The bathroom in each bedroom is adjacent to a small yard, which ensures ample light and ventilation.

The material scheme of the project combines the old and new. ARCHSTUDIO preserved the textures of traditional architectural materials whilst adding some new materials in an appropriate manner, so as to retain the marks of time, and present the contrast and fusion between the new and old. The original pine wood framework of the Siheyuan was maintained, with its damaged components replaced by the same material.

The new veranda, doors, windows and some furniture utilize laminated bamboo panels (a new material that looks like wood and feels like steel), which echo with the old pine wood.

The newly built veranda adopts a frame structure, with ribbed beams and panels on the ceiling, in order to maximize transparency and lightness as well as to better blend into the old construction. As for interior design, ARCHSTUDIO brought in various combinations of furniture made of old or new wood, which shows perfect mix of different hues and textures.

Image © Wang Ning

Image © Wu Qingshan

Image © Wu Qingshan

sky into the same picture. In the front courtyard, part of the veranda's roof was bent downwards to form a curved wall, behind which are some functional spaces, including the washroom, service room, equipment room and so on.

The traditional pitched roofs used no modern waterproof materials and had poor thermal insulation.

Considering this, ARCHSTUDIO optimized the roof system and performance on the premise of retaining the original gray tile rooftops. As to the curved roof of the newly built veranda, the designers utilized polymer

Image © Wang Ning

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construction, some stone slices, crocks and a millstone were found unexpectedly, which were later reused as stairs, flowerpots and adornments. The wooden beam waste from the architectural renovation was utilized to make chairs, which gives old materials new life. Combining the old with the new, ARCHSTUDIO has successfully retained a part of this project’s illustrious past whilst rejuvenating the residence through an infusion of modern conveniences and comforts.

Image © Wu Qingshan

The floor of outdoor spaces is paved with the same type of bricks, to ensure visual consistency. Some of the new walls are formed by glass bricks, which have the same size as the old gray bricks. During

Image © Wang Ning

mortar as the finish, which is smooth and forms a contrast with the adjacent textured tile rooftops. The old building walls were restored, by reusing the gray bricks from demolished temporary architectural blocks in the courtyards.

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Floored by Malaysian timbers

Image Š MTC

As other types of floors began to look dull and worn, hardwood flooring will still retain its beauty and become more valuable over time

Its beauty comes with age while its warmth and texture are almost eternal. Nothing beats the presence of timber in our living space and wooden floorings are stunning additions that provide a direct connection to nature. As an environmentally friendly and durable material, timber floorings have never gone out of style.

The benefits of timber floorings which are available in the form of solid timber flooring and engineered timber flooring are as follows: Long-lasting: Hardwood floors that are well manufactured and maintained can last for generations. As they are hardwearing, they can withstand heavy foot traffic and active work areas, providing greater resistance to indentation and abrasion.

Hygienic and easy to maintain: Timber floors are better than carpets which can harbor parasites, allergens like dust

mites and fleas as well as dust.

It also does not retain stains or odors and can be cleaned just by sweeping or mopping.

Insulating: Wooden flooring insulates against excessive heat which helps keep floors cool.

Good acoustics and air quality: Hardwood flooring does not give hollow sounds or vibrations and wood is hypoallergenic, thus contributing to a healthier living environment.

Value-for-money: A simple act of sand and seal will bring a timber floor back to new; unlike carpets which may need to be replaced every few years.

Evergreen appeal: Though stone and tile floors are also hygienic and easy to maintain, they do not exude the earthy warmth that timbers provide and when it comes to ‘floor fashion’, timber floors win hands down against carpets, linoleum and even

granite and marble.

As other types of floors began to look dull and worn, hardwood flooring will still retain its beauty and become more valuable over time. A wide range of Malaysian hardwood flooring is available for use in homes, offices, showrooms, indoor sports arenas, and restaurants. These timber floors are versatile enough to be paired with virtually any other building material and color palette for a lovely interior.

Among the popular timber species used for the manufacturing of Malaysian hardwood flooring are Balau, Dark Red Meranti, Light Red Meranti, Kempas, Merbau, Red Balau, Rubberwood, Bintangor, Keranji, Merpauh, Sepetir, Mempisang and Nyatoh.

These timbers come in a wide range of colors that easily attract buyers. Besides the variations in their natural colors, the sapwood of many species can be much

lighter than the heartwood, providing for both light- and darkcolored boards. Even within a tree, large color variations can occur providing a visual feast when the timber pieces are assembled.

Malaysia has long been known as a major producer of highquality timber flooring whose products are exported to highly discerning markets with stringent requirements such as Europe, the United States, Australia, and Japan. Buyers opt for either conventional solid strips and parquet flooring or engineered flooring.

Malaysian timber floors are specifically milled. Attractive and sturdy, hardwood floorings also provide a look of spaciousness. *For a list of Malaysian suppliers of timber and timber products, and to learn more about Malaysian timber species, please contact the Malaysian Timber Council (www.mtc.com.my)

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Some of the hardwood timber flooring species’ characteristics Balau

Sapwood is lighter in color and well-defined from the heartwood which is yellow-brown, brown or reddish brown.

The grain is interlocked and the texture is moderately fine but even.

Dark Red Meranti

Sapwood is not clearly defined from the heartwood which is medium red to deep red to deep red-brown. The grain is interlocked. The texture is moderately coarse but even.

Kempas

Image © MTC

Sapwood is white or pale yellow in color. Heartwood is pinkish when fresh and darkens to bright orange red or deep brown.

The grain is interlocked, often very interlocked. The texture is coarse but even, except in areas where included phloem occurs.

Merbau

Sapwood is pale yellow in color. Heartwood is yellowish to orange brown when fresh, darkening to brown or dark red brown on exposure. The texture is coarse and even, with interlocked grain.

Red Balau

Sapwood is well-defined from the heartwood of purple red or dark red-brown color. The grain is interlocked, often deeply interlocked. Texture is rather coarse and even

Image © MTC

Rubberwood

Sapwood is not differentiated from the heartwood, which is pale cream in color, often with a pink tinge. Texture is moderately coarse but even with straight to shallowly interlocked grain.

Some of the specifications for Malaysian hardwood flooring* Types of Flooring

Thickness (mm)

Width (mm)

Length (mm)

Solid parquet

8, 10, 12, 14

30, 38, 50, 60, 70

30, 200-500

Strip flooring

11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22

70, 83, 90, 150

900, 1200, 2000

Laminated (3-layer parquet)

8, 9, 12, 14

90, 150, 190, 300

905, 1818, 1205, 2200

*These are some of the more popular specifications

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Leers Weinzapfel Associates: Advancing the Timber Typology at All Scales Tom Chung and Ashley Rao highlight the tremendous potential for wood construction

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Working with wood is immensely satisfying. It is a natural material that has been used by humans from the beginning of history in most primitive forms to cutting edge, complex digital fabrications of the 21st century. It is relatively easy to cut and shape with hand tools, yet requires years of study and experience to do it well. And when you respect the material and understand its many attributes and limitations and design accordingly, it rewards you with a multi-sensory experience. The visual warmth of its color and grain, the warmth and softness to touch; unlike steel, it’s not hot to touch in direct sunlight; and unlike concrete, it’s not brutally hard - you can even indent it with your fingernail - and then there’s the lasting fresh pine scent that refreshes you when you take a deep breath.

As mass timber design and construction continues to burgeon beyond its European and Canadian roots, our firm plays a leading role in the innovative exploration of the practice in the United States.

Recognized for pioneering work integrating mass timber into new building sectors, we seek to continually push the material’s boundaries and expand the typology to benefit the profession at large. Our latest timber work includes projects in a variety of scales - medium - an Innovation Center in the Northeast; large - an academic building in Massachusetts; and extralarge - a living learning complex in Arkansas. Based on their size variations, we faced diverse design challenges at each scale, which stimulated a robust exploration of the expressive potential of wood construction for our firm.

Image © Leers Weinzapfel

Suffolk Downs Innovation Center: On the Boards

Located in the hub of the Boston area’s largest new transit-oriented development, the Innovation Center will be the area’s first new mass timber office building when completed in 2023. The Center will be the signature showcase of a nascent mixed-use live/ work neighborhood near Revere Beach. It will comprise 60,000 square feet of co-working office and administration spaces, a community room, retail, dining,

and maker space, as well as a public green roof terrace that overlooks the campus’s main public plaza. The development’s main event space will host a variety of meetings, lectures, concerts and receptions during the day and in the evening.

The key design challenge for this project was to create a big visual impact for a compact, mid-sized building, highlighting its innovative wood structure.

We achieved this through a roof design that delivers the impression of expansive space.

Technologically advanced, its sweeping curved form creates a dramatic presence and evokes the built language of nearby beachfront pavilions. Inside, the exposed wood ceiling soars above the co-working office spaces. The expressive wave-like roof profile incorporates both new and old timber technology, marrying curved glulam beams with the efficient use of modular flat CLT panels that double-span across them. Fabrication will employ cutting-edge CNC milling technology for high-precision, prefabricated panels as well as centuries old methods including giant jigs and wood clamps.

John W. Olver Design Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

The Olver Design Building was our firm’s first mass timber project.

Bringing together the previously dispersed Departments of Architecture, Building Construction Technology, and Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, this 89,000-square-foot building fosters multidisciplinary collaboration. For students using the spaces, the building itself is both a learning environment and a teaching tool for its integrated departments. Originally conceived with a conventional steel/concrete frame, the firm’s collaborative relationship with the Building Construction Technology (BCT) department at the University of Massachusetts created an opportunity to explore the potential of alternative mass timber construction instead.

The critical design challenge in this large project was articulating a solution that expressively

Image © Albert Vecerka

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The design solution leveraged the fabrication methods of each component to create an economically customized truss.

The glulam diagonals take advantage of the reductive CNC milling process to fabricate timber posts of varying lengths. Unique cast steel connectors were kept to a minimum. A single cast shape was used as the central connector for each truss, with off-the-shelf pin connections addressing the

Image © Ngoc Doan

unique geometry. The ’zipper truss’ solution creates a threedimensional array of triangulated glulam and steel rod trusses to support the CLT roof panels, displaying both the strength and expressive potential of wood in this groundbreaking project.

Image © Albert Vecerka

integrated architecture, engineering, and landscape in the building’s central, trapezoidshaped ‘Commons’ courtyard.

Functioning as the structure’s physical and spiritual heart, the Commons acts as a three-sided courtyard that spills out through a café and entryway, down into the main campus, and invites the campus in. Above the Commons, a roof terrace is an outdoor counterpart to the space below, serving as a virtual ‘classroom’ for the landscape architecture program. The key challenge for timber construction was designing a structure to span the irregularlyshaped ‘Commons’ courtyard that would also support the weight of a green roof above along with winter snow drift loads in a costeffective way.

Adohi Hall: The largest CLT building in the US and the first mass timber student housing project

This 708-bed, 202,027 square foot student housing complex demonstrates a pioneering use of cross-laminated timber and an innovative approach to live-learn communities, including embedded arts and academic spaces.

Completed in August 2019, Adohi Hall is the largest cross-laminated timber building in the US and its first mass timber student housing building, supporting the economic potential of Arkansas’ burgeoning timber industry. ‘Adohi’ is Cherokee for woods, recognizing the enduring importance of native populations and sustainable forestry to the region.

The key challenge of this extralarge project was making mass timber a cost-effective structural choice in a new building typology.

The structural properties and

Image © Tim Hursley

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region of the US. Throughout the process of its design and construction, the project served as a laboratory and showcase for pioneering mass timber construction techniques.

The aesthetic appeal of wood lends a sense of warmth and intimacy to the building’s oversized spaces as well.

Exposed structural ceilings and columns are apparent in each student room, study room, floor lounge, and ground floor common spaces. The cabin’s distinctive wood ceiling is framed in timber trusses that span the full width of the lounge spaces.

Native cypress forms exterior soffits, entryways, and interior walls. Adohi Hall has galvanized the development of the mass timber industry in Arkansas and throughout the Southeast

Image © Leers Weinzapfel

code consideration of mass timber influenced important decisions of massing and student room design. The design team worked to develop typical student room modules that allowed for the cost-effective layout of modular CLT panels and glulam framework while minimizing material waste.

Plumbing coordination for the ensuite student bathrooms was a major consideration as well.

The construction leveraged the prefabrication potential of digital CNC fabrication to coordinate and shop-drill the 4,113 slab penetrations.

Even after being cut, shaped, and assembled to create spaces, mass timber retains qualities as a once-living tree. It is hygroscopic, absorbing moisture to help balance humidity levels in buildings, and it moves as it swells and shrinks during the course of the year. Even in construction, as I was visiting our Adohi Hall project at the University of Arkansas being assembled, I couldn’t help but see its three-storey columns as a forest of trees. And in some cases, as I witnessed when visiting a centuries old Hanok (a traditional Korean house), I was greeted at the main door by a pine board still sapping after all these years, reminding me of its origin. As Kengo Kuma notes, ‘wood is our old friend’ and its familiarity as a material along with new possibilities given the digital technology of today makes designing in wood a profoundly rewarding endeavor. *This article has been submitted

by Leers Weinzapfel Associates.

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Engineered wood construction is booming, and policy initiatives further encourage its rise Greater sustainability and lower costs have helped usher in a boom in wooden construction When Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., announced that it would build an entire neighborhood out of mass timber in Toronto, it lent credence to an idea that would have seemed outlandish a decade ago: the sustainable buildings of the future might just be made out of wood.

Timber buildings are sprouting up the world over. There are now nearly 600 built or planned wooden commercial buildings in the contiguous U.S., according to The Wood Products Council.

New York City will soon have its first two timber buildings in nearly a century, with a pair of

midrise developments in South Williamsburg. Swatch Group’s new headquarters in Switzerland is made of local timber.

Developers in Japan and Australia have embraced the building material.

“Mass timber is being considered for a growing range of commercial real estate projects,” says Peter Feigenbaum, a Senior Project Architect at GF55 Architects.

While greater sustainability and lower costs have helped usher in this wooden construction boom, policy initiatives are also playing a big role. For instance, height restrictions on timber buildings

were recently loosened in British Columbia and Oregon. Canada - where a proposed project could become world’s tallest wooden skyscraper - is providing incentives through the Green Construction Through Wood program.

“It’s aesthetically attractive as well as more sustainable, so it’s getting a lot of attention from both developers and governments,” says Feigenbaum.

Driving the hype: safer, and in some cases cheaper, materials

Inviting aesthetics and occupant wellbeing are a major feature of

mass timber construction.

“Developers are starting to realize that wood provides an inviting workplace environment that people want to go to every day,” says Les Medd, Senior Vice President of Project & Development Services at JLL. “And that adds to their wellbeing, their productivity, and the overall success of the office space itself.”

“But it’s not just about doing good while looking good. The materials used to construct these buildings - engineered woods like cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue-laminated timber (glulam) -

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Image © 3XN

Image © Tom 3XN Donald

Image © 3XN

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provide the strength of structural steel at a fraction of the weight,” says Medd.

They’re also safer.

“Despite the commonly held concern about combustion of wood, mass timber members actually outperform steel under fire conditions,” he says.

And in some cases, building with wood is cheaper. “With the advances made in mass timber, and its increasing popularity, it is becoming more cost competitive as compared with more traditional concrete and steel structures,” says Medd.

“However, the cost of mass timber can vary significantly depending on the type of system used, and owners are well-advised to explore the various alternative systems that are available in the market to fit within their budgetary and aesthetic requirements,” adds Medd.

“Another advantage of mass timber buildings is the savings on interior finishing costs, as exposed wood is a desirable finish on its own and does not require application of other finish materials,” says Medd.

Shortened construction timelines also bring down costs. While

concrete takes weeks to set, mass timber walls and floors can go up in hours, with panels produced in the factory at the exact needed dimensions including precision cutouts for doors, windows, and building services.

The superstructure for T3 Minneapolis, a mass timber building that opened last year, was built in only nine-and-a-half weeks.

Sustainable materials

The main draw for policymakers, however, is sustainability.

Producing concrete and steel is highly carbon-intensive, together

accounting for nearly 10 percent of global emissions. By contrast, trees capture and store carbon dioxide as they grow - around one ton per cubic meter - making mass timber a much more climate-friendly building material.

Because these materials can be made from panels of fast-growing trees like spruce, they can be produced without harvesting old-growth forests.

While there is debate over the exact emissions profile of mass timber when its full production lifecycle is accounted for (like including diesel-fueled logging equipment), it is estimated

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also poses challenges to open plan offices and other buildings requiring large open spaces.

“The environmental benefits are clear, even if they are not yet fully proven,” says Medd.

“Most of the mass timber buildings in the market today have relatively close column spacing, typically not greater than 6m by 6m (20ft x 20ft) spacing,” says Medd. “For developments requiring more open space, mass timber elements have to be sized considerably larger to ensure an acceptable range of vibration for the floor - and that can drive up

Labor and proximity to materials can also pose obstacles.

“Mass timber can be costcompetitive, but there are currently only a few markets close enough to both the supply chain for the materials and contractors trained to work with them,” says Feigenbaum.

Because of this, leading lumberproducing regions of Canada and the Pacific Northwest have

emerged as early mass timber leaders in North America.

Another roadblock is policymaker support. Despite recent victories, most jurisdictions have been slow to accommodate these materials in building codes.

“There is a long way to go, but the growing popularity of mass timber itself could influence change,” concludes Medd. *This article has been submitted

by JLL MENA.

Image © Didier Boy De La Tour

The true obstacles to widespread construction with engineered wood are subtle. While the lightweight, flexible nature of wood improves its performance in earthquakes, this elasticity

Image © Swatch Group

Design and supply chain challenges

the cost substantially.”

Image © Swatch Group

to be about a third less than a comparably-sized concrete and steel building.

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NHG Timber: A friend to the trade

Image Š NHG Timber

Nurturing of relationships and ensuring clear and open communication will allow us all to respond to the challenges of COVID-19

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When lockdown first hit the U.K. in March and affected other areas of the world in April and May, the first priority was to ensure that goods already in transit could be received and paid for. Many companies saw their sales reduce to almost zero overnight and were very concerned about the pipeline of future orders getting shipped.

Initially, it was a question of space to handle the inevitable extra stock, but where possible, NHG worked with both customers and suppliers to schedule forward commitments so that the flow of materials could be smooth, always ensuring that all involved were fully updated with the latest information from suppliers and shipping lines. There were of course very few fresh enquiries, but in the circumstances, this was very understandable.

As the weeks went by it became clear that some segments of the timber market were doing rather well - in Europe enforced home working stimulated demand for timber for home offices, and worldwide the millions of people in lockdown took up home construction tasks, fueling the demand for products such as decking and fencing. In the Middle East, whilst some projects were delayed, others were accelerated while the labor was still available to get them completed.

As lockdowns have started to

During such difficult times, it is inevitable that there have been companies willing to dispose of stock at low cost to generate cash, but a few months down the line, this behaviour has changed. Trading companies have either withdrawn, or companies like NHG Timber have stuck with it and continued to offer service and support to their partners, even if that has meant getting fewer new orders or having regular business disrupted.

We are not out of the woods yet, and regional second spikes of virus infections could amplify the impact on business, but what we have found is the value of our personal relationships with suppliers and clients, and with clients in the Middle East in particular, these having been forged for 25 years. We consider our clients to be our friends, and like all friends, we are there for them when they need us, particularly when times are difficult.

NHG Timber specializes in tropical and temperate timber sourcing worldwide with a special focus on West Africa.

Many readers will be familiar with NHG logos adorning packs of Sapele, Iroko, Dabema, Kossipo and many other timbers in various markets in the Gulf.

This success has been built up not only on a deep and practical product knowledge, but also on forging long-term relationships with clients based on mutual respect and trust. *This article has been written by Stuart McBride, Director, NHG Timber. For more information and to learn more about the company, please visit www.nhgtimber.co.uk.

Image © NHG Timber

ease, our regular clients with whom we have been in close contact, have begun to plan ahead once more, despite our inability to travel to meet them in their offices or at the Dubai WoodShow. We are handling increasing levels of enquiries for African hardwoods, and some projects using American hardwoods and beech are coming to the fore.

Hardwood Lumber

NHG Timber specializes in the supply of hardwood lumber from West Africa, North America and Europe.

These are available in fixed dimensions as well as standard sizes, and Ben Goodwin, Guy Goodwin and Stuart McBride have the in-depth knowledge and experience of their supply areas to be able to source practically any desired hardwood product that clients require, along with providing advice and support. New ideas for grades, species and specifications are suggested on a regular basis.

Softwood Lumber

Echoing the company’s European sales, species such as Western Red Cedar,

Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine are sourced from NHG’s North American network of suppliers.

Finished and Semifinished products

NHG can supply a variety of products such as hardwood decking, machined profiles, molding blanks and finished sections to give clients a fully bespoke hardwood service from expert and experienced producers.

Logs & Boules

Market trends are progressively realizing the importance of added value, but NHG still has a good business in log supply, and sources African and American logs for those buyers who wish to control their own yields.

Image © NHG Timber

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a bolt out of the blue that has seriously disrupted global business. The timber sector has not escaped, and this has led to a period of huge uncertainty, unpredictability and worry for our suppliers and customers alike. NHG is a global trading company and so has a wide-ranging view on how these challenges have changed people’s behavior in different markets. One common theme is that, despite the feeling that businesses cannot recover easily from such a shock, it is the nurturing of relationships and ensuring clear and open communication that will allow us all to pull out of this situation together.

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Foster + Partners plants ‘Tree Canopy’ in the center of Apple World Central Apple’s second store in Bangkok is a circular glass store centered around an intricate wooden conical structure

Image © Bear and Terry

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Image © Apple

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Enveloped by this dizzying urban spectacle, is an 80-foot (24.4 meter) diameter two-storey glass drum with a beautifully crafted conical support with a concave vertical surface that stands on its apex. Its form has been generated by the 360-degree revolution of a Bezier curve. Clad in warm timber, the central support is formed of 1,461 European white oak profiles. This eye-catching sculptural timber core can be seen from any direction irrespective of whether you are on the inside or out. The oak timber is split into individual lamellas and bonded on to a spruce core for stability.

A carefully crafted edge detail on each slat allows air to be extracted out through the central structure with an absorptive acoustic backing layer.

Blumer Lehmann was the project manager responsible for the

planning, engineering, production and assembly of the timber construction, which comprises interior cladding made from oak.

The building’s architecture is brought to life by the first ever allglass design under an overhanging canopy. Once inside, customers can move between two levels using either a spiral staircase that winds around a timber core made of oak, or a unique cylindrical lift clad in high-gloss polished stainless steel. Guests can enter from the ground floor or from the upper storey, offering a direct link to the Skytrain and the city’s largest shopping center.

According to the team at Blumer Lehmann, the choice of wood was crucial for creating the aesthetics and the sense of space within the building. The architects at Foster + Partners and the design team at Apple decided to make the interior cladding from oak. Around 40 cubic meters of oak from Central Europe was used for this. The oak pieces were produced using three different methods. The vertical section was bent around the weak axis with a radius of two meters.

Double-curved oak trusses were

Image © Bear and Terry

The project is the result of close collaboration between the team at Apple and architect Foster + Partners, through its local entity F&P (Thailand) Ltd and Architects 49 Ltd. Situated at the southern end of the Central World Square, the store addresses a generous public plaza and the famous Erawan shrine located across the road. It is connected to the BTS walkway via a new bridge at the upper level, while

being overlooked by multiple vehicular and pedestrian routes surrounding the site. It is the second Apple Store by Foster + Partners in Bangkok, following the completion of the tree-lined Apple Iconsiam store in 2018.

Image © Nigel Young / Foster + Partners

Image © Bear and Terry

Opened in August of this year, the Foster + Partners designed Apple Central World in Bangkok is located in one of the city’s iconic urban centers. The new store establishes a quiet sculptural presence at the heart of the bustling Central World Square on the intersection of Rama I and Ratchadamri roads. Wrapped in floor-to-ceiling curved glass facades that provide passersby uninterrupted views inside and frame the tree-like interiors, referred to by Apple as the Tree Canopy, the store forms a new social focus for the city and an inviting backdrop for the city’s famous New Year celebrations and numerous other annual festivities.

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Image © Apple

Blurring the boundaries between the inside and the outside, the glazed façade dematerializes to reveal the calm interiors of the store, similar to many of the studio's other Apple Stores including the Apple Sanlitun in Beijing. In the case of Apple Central World, the glazing is intended to address the ‘public plaza and the famous Erawan shrine located across the road’. With the same

Image © Apple

Connecting the two main sales areas on the two levels is a beautifully crafted staircase with helical turbine blades that cantilever from the central structure. Each tread is milled from solid blocks of stainless steel and is highly polished, giving them a reflective, sculptural quality. The

fully glazed drum surrounding both floors provides dramatic 360-degree views, juxtaposing the intense urbanism with the quiet greenery of the new landscape.

Grounded at its center, the circular roof projects out 10 feet (3 meters) to provide shade to the glazed façade.

quality of surface finishes on the inside and the outside, the design establishes a generous new public space for the city, surrounded by a ring of trees interspersed with external benches for people to rest and enjoy the green setting.

Image © Apple

crafted for the transition from the vertical section to the horizontal section. The horizontal ceiling area was curved around the strong side. This was achieved by cutting the raw materials into slats and then bonding them to arched trusses in the same order. The oak cladding was attached to the spruce wood substructure and fitted onto the main steel support - all done behind the scenes.

The store’s unique design encompasses many of Apple’s latest features, including a forum, a conference room and freestanding displays. The center of the forum, arranged around a video wall, will be the venue for future Today at Apple sessions featuring some of the biggest artists, musicians and creative minds from Bangkok. At the freestanding displays arranged around the circular layout of the store’s first-floor, customers can discover

curated products and accessories to suit a variety of creative interests. The conference room is located on the western level of the store and offers entrepreneurs, developers and local business owners a space to get one-to-one advice and guidance from the Apple team.

“We are excited for visitors to discover this truly one-of-a-kind store in Ratchaprasong. With our future Today at Apple sessions and a phenomenal team ready to welcome the community with exceptional service and support, we can’t wait for our customers to experience Apple Central World,” concluded Deirdre O’Brien, Senior Vice President of Retail + People at Apple.

CONNECTING BUSINESSES WITH THE LATEST AND MOST INNOVATIVE COMMERCIAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS WORKSPACE is the Middle East's office interiors trade event, connecting interiors professionals to office furniture manufacturers, workplace products and solutions.

From 31 May - 2 June 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, WORKSPACE Dubai will welcome 30,000+ visitors from across the world. You can’t miss this.

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Heatherwick Studio unveils plant-filled Maggie’s Center in Leeds Maggie’s Leeds uses several ‘healthy’ materials and energysaving techniques including a prefabricated and sustainablysourced spruce timber system Heatherwick Studio’s center for Maggie’s, the charity that provides free practical and emotional support for people with cancer, was unveiled earlier in June of this year.

The 462 square meter center, located within the campus of St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds, is the charity's 26th center in the UK and the first completed healthcare project designed by the studio. The brief was to create ‘a home that people wouldn’t dare build for themselves’ to welcome an expected 110 visitors each day.

Image © Hufton+Crow

Maggie’s centers are places where people with cancer, and their friends and families, can go to find free practical and emotional support. They follow the approach to care set out by Maggie Keswick Jencks - a belief that people should not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying”. As such, Maggie's Leeds is designed as a group of three large-scale planters, built on a sloped site, that each enclose a counselling room. These surround the 'heart' of the center - the kitchen - as well as more social spaces for group activities including a library and exercise room.

Heatherwick Studio was commissioned to design a new center at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds. Jimmy’s, as it is known locally, is Europe’s largest teaching hospital and home to the Leeds Cancer Center, which serves a diverse community across Yorkshire. The hospital staff had been working to improve the experience for patients; bringing a piano into

the Bexley Wing, for example, and hanging paintings from the city gallery. The studio wanted to support this by providing further respite from the clinical environment.

The site chosen for the new center was the last patch of greenery at the hospital - a grassy hill next to the car park, bounded by roads on two sides and surrounded by large buildings. The six-meter difference in level across the site would typically dictate a building dug into the slope - instead, the studio chose to follow its natural contours, so that at the highest point, visitors would have views of the Yorkshire Dales, and a connection with the world beyond the hospital.

the hospital does not lose its last green space - it is lifted up, filled with woodland plants and made more accessible and inviting.

Thomas Heatherwick, Founder of Heatherwick Studio, said: “It’s been a tremendous experience and honor to design the Maggie’s Center in Leeds. Our aim was to build a home for people affected by cancer that would be soulful and welcoming, unlike other typical clinical environments. By only using natural, sustainable materials and immersing the building in thousands of plants, there was a chance for us to make an extraordinary environment capable of inspiring visitors with hope and perseverance during their difficult health journeys.”

The pillars of support at Maggie’s are the counselling rooms, so these were placed, like three pavilions, organized around a heart and at changing levels of the slope. The space between them accommodates the common areas of the center, resulting in an inviting open space, simple for visitors to navigate, connecting all the areas to the garden. Externally, this gives the building a different character from every angle. Two entrances were also created: a front door and a rear entrance for staff and regular visitors.

The team designed a structure that could be built off-site and assembled quickly on a concrete slab and retaining wall with minimal disruption. The entire building superstructure was manufactured in Switzerland and fixed together on site in just eight weeks. These are supported by glulam fins, whose modulations give the feeling of trunks rising up from the ground to support the gardens overhead.

The structure is mostly made of sustainably forested spruce, a material that will expand and contract with the seasons, as if alive.

The challenge was to span and enclose the level changes and reinstate the greenery. Instead of a single monolithic canopy, the roof is composed of three overlapping gardens which step down and overhang to shelter communal areas. In this way,

Drawing upon the philosophy of Maggie's and the belief that great design can help people feel better, Maggie's Leeds uses several 'healthy' materials and energy-saving techniques. The building's structure is built from

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Mat Cash, Group Leader at Heatherwick Studio, said: “Maggie’s Leeds has been a privilege for our team to work on given the importance of the charity’s work. As one of the last remaining green sites within the hospital’s campus, we wanted to provide an open, welcoming center

Inside, visitors are not confronted by a conventional reception space; instead, they find a welcoming window seat, a noticeboard, and a view through to the heart of the center, with its communal table in the arc of a staircase leading to the kitchen. The kitchen table, a feature of all Maggie’s centers, represents another threshold; the point where visitors feel ready to share their experiences.

Everything is on display, so there is no awkward rummaging through cupboards to find a mug, and a clerestory fills the space with natural light. Above this, there is a private space for staff to rest and gather strength, and a sheltered roof

Image © Hufton+Crow

“Maggie’s Leeds has been a very special project for me and my team because we are convinced that there are kinder, more empathic ways to design places that can have powerful impacts on the way that we feel.

This is particularly important

The relationship between the center’s architecture and the experience for visitors extends beyond the uplifting effect of its garden. The front door, for example, is a psychological threshold - the point at which someone might start to accept a cancer diagnosis. Not everyone will be ready to open the door straight away, so there is a bench to sit outside, or a private path to wander quietly through the gardens. The entrance wall is transparent and the door is moved to the side under a lower roof, where it is less intimidating.

of nearly 5,000 square feet, which felt encompassed by lots of nature, something we felt was extremely important in a healthcare environment because of its restorative effects. By utilizing the sloping contours of the site, the center also offers visitors a visual connection beyond the immediate hospital campus with inspiring views of the Yorkshire Dales and beyond."

Image © Hufton+Crow

The rooftop garden, designed by award-winning landscape designers Balston Agius, is inspired by Yorkshire woodlands and features native English species of plants, alongside areas of evergreen to provide warmth in the winter months.

Inspired by Maggie Keswick Jencks’ love of gardening, visitors are encouraged to participate in the care of the 23,000 bulbs and 17,000 plants on site.

in the design of healthcare environments, but is so frequently overlooked,” added Heatherwick.

Image © Hufton+Crow

a prefabricated and sustainablysourced spruce timber system.

Porous materials such as lime plaster help to maintain the internal humidity of the naturally-ventilated building, which has been achieved through careful consideration of the building's form and orientation.

Image © Hufton+Crow

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into their design, as we know that a connection to nature, as well as great architecture and design can have a huge impact on people's health, both mentally and physically. We hope that people visiting the center enjoy the planting and gardens by Balston Agius and feel comforted by the design and layout of the center."

garden accessible to all.

The studio looked at the qualities that make a building a home; the use of warm, natural materials, the way that objects are used to express individuality, the combination of private spaces and places where people can come together, and gentle lighting.

When it came to lighting, the studio had the idea that the wooden cores could glow, as if they were emitting light. This is achieved by integrating the

Image © Hufton+Crow

The interior of the center explores everything that is often missed in healing environments: natural and tactile materials, soft lighting, and a variety of spaces designed to encourage social opportunities as well as quiet contemplation. Window sills and shelves are intended for visitors to fill with their own objects to create a sense of home. The studio has also designed two tables, inspired by the building's timber fins and built from cork and engineered beech timber, which reside in the heart of the center.

lighting with the shelves and interior edges of the roofs. The designers had to work backwards, specifying how the lights, and services would be integrated at an early stage in the process, as the building was still taking shape.

Laura Lee, Chief Executive of

Maggie’s, said: “It is fantastic to be bringing Maggie's to Leeds at a time when people with cancer need our support more than ever.

The center has been designed beautifully on a challenging plot of land. We were so pleased that Heatherwick Studio were able to incorporate plenty of green space

The center is currently open for people with cancer and their families and friends to visit.

Social distancing and cleaning measures are being taken.

Maggie’s Leeds expands upon the studio’s long-standing interest in the role of biophilia within the built environment, best demonstrated by the recently completed, EDEN, a new residential building in Singapore; Little Island at Pier55, a new park and performance space in New York City that is due to complete in 2021; and 1000 Trees, a mixed-use development in Shanghai, which on completion will include 25,000 individual plants and 100 different species of plants and trees.

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X+Living redefines the bookstore concept with Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing

Image Š Wu Qingshan

Design utilizes different floor levels to celebrate the simple act of walking through the store inviting customers to browse, wander, and stumble upon new scenery and spatial experiences

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Image © Wu Qingshan

Image © Wu Qingshan

Image © Wu Qingshan

Zhongshuge’s first Beijing store

opened in 2019 and the company now has more than 20 stores across the country. This store in Galeries Lafayette, which has been designed by X+Living, is the third overall Zhongshuge store for the studio with at least three more in the works at the moment. At 1,110 square meters (11,948 sq. ft), this is by no means the largest Zhongshuge bookstore, but it has a few design elements that make it stand out and appear larger

Image © Wu Qingshan

Chinese architecture studio X+Living has completed the design of the second Zhongshuge bookstore in Beijing. Located within the Galeries Lafayette department store, the studio has referenced classical Chinese gardens and connected various functional areas with different formats of space layout, sketching a flowing path for consumers to explore.

Image © Wu Qingshan

Image © Wu Qingshan

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Image © Wu Qingshan

than it is.

According to the studio, the bookshelves are both a canvas and a wall, making the entrance appear like a painting that unfolds gradually. Looking through the doorway, the depth of the entire space is faintly visible, attracting visitors who can’t but help walk inside the bookstore to explore its beautiful interiors that celebrate books at every turn.

In the conceptual area, the designers have created an elevation difference

transformation by using ladders to make the space pattern fluctuate. Using perspective relations to create a visual illusion experience, the arches are nested and intersecting, and all of the beautiful sceneries are within eyesight. The charm of the changing scenery in the classical garden appears everywhere, and the refraction of the mirrored floor surfaces gives this phantom realm a kind of surreal sensory impact.

Evolved from the form of classic ‘Moon Gate’, various circular

Image © Wu Qingshan

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between two wooden branches, and a special poster or book display booth is formed, which fully satisfies the owners' diversified operation needs.

Image © Wu Qingshan

holes have been cut into the space. Apart from acting as a traffic corridor that connects spaces, some of them even function as frames offering exquisite views from within.

With the traditional decorative usage of the classic ‘Moon Gate’ having been abandoned and the application range expanded, it has become a symbol, a link and thus presented more possibilities in space. Making use of the arched shape, the designer has also built several resting couches, so that the symbolized arched door has the dual meaning of function and aesthetics.

The store also includes a cashier constructed with terrazzo similar to that used in the cafe. The arrangement of tables and chairs in the cafe is distributed casually but in great order, simulating a gathering of ancient people in a famous Chinese painting called ‘Qu Shui Liu Shang’. The shared tables and chairs enable visitors to sit according to different social needs and constitute an elegant and interesting scene together.

The children's library is a unique world built for kids. The designer has used simplified lines and figures to create a cartoon city.

Wavy streamlines for rivers and spheres for cornices. The strokes imitating those by children who might have painted a vivid picture of ancient buildings.

Image © Wu Qingshan

Behind the door where you find a bamboo forest is the cultural and creative area. The extremely simplified wooden branches, through the skillful arrangement, have completed the turn from microscopic image to macroscopic view. A line has been drawn

Through the bamboo grove and walking into the study hall, the designer has created a ceremonial and secluded elegant atmosphere by using the central symmetrical layout of traditional architecture.

The bookshelf is inspired from screen art, on the back of which is the lamp box acting as a light source. The warm glow from the paper pane falls on the face of the reader, creating an antique flavor.

All in all, the Zhongshuge Beijing Lafayette store is a dialogue window between classical art and contemporary fashion.

Between the new and the old, the psychological impact of space rotation brings the readers who enter the bookstore into the cave of the Peach Garden and to experience a terrific journey like a dream.

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Atlassian to build the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower for its new headquarters Hybrid structure is significantly lower in embodied carbon and offers a substantial reduction in the building’s carbon footprint

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Image © SHoP Architects/BVN

In line with Atlassian’s commitment to operate on 100 percent renewable energy and reach net zero emissions, the project will target 50 percent less embodied carbon in construction compared to a conventional building and 50 percent less energy consumption compared with a new conventionally operated building and solar panels in the vertical facades, to generate green power on-site. The building will operate on 100 percent renewable energy from day one and include solar panels built into the façade. It will completely regenerate Central Station as part of the NSW Government’s plan to build a new tech precinct

attracting 25,000 workers.

“Technology can turbo-charge Australia’s recovery. That’s why we’re building this precinct. We want to create jobs, ideas and innovation. This will be home to thousands of workers and the best new ideas. If you want to work in tech - this is the place you will want to be,” said Scott Farquhar, Co-Founder and CoCEO, Atlassian. “Sydney has the potential to be one of the world’s leading technology cities and the creation of a tech precinct sends a loud signal that we’re in the race to take a slice of the world’s most valuable market. That’s an exciting place to be.”

Atlassian is the first anchor tenant to sign up to the precinct plan.

Construction of the Atlassian headquarters will generate 2,500 additional jobs and add almost one billion dollars a year to the Australian economy. Once complete, 4,000 Atlassian staff will use the building. The existing YHA at the site will be revitalized and incorporated into the lower levels of the new building. The existing heritage parcel shed will also be incorporated into the development. The 180m tall tower (590 ft) has been designed by SHoP and BVN, with engineering firm Eckersley O’Callaghan responsible for the building’s structure and façade design.

“This building will breathe new

Image © SHoP Architects/BVN

Technology giant - Atlassian has announced plans to build the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower for its new headquarters in the tech precinct at Central Station in Sydney, Australia. The new building will be home to thousands of technology workers when complete in 2025. After an extensive global search, Atlassian has chosen New York-based architects SHoP, and Australian practice BVN as the design team.

Their groundbreaking design of timber, with a glass and steel facade will include a mix of outdoor and indoor spaces and will use an energy-efficient approach that features natural ventilation and large planted terraces giving access to nature. The building will be approximately 40 storeys high.

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The building is leading edge in its application of Mass Timber Construction (MTC). MTC is one of the most hopeful technologies in moving the construction industry toward real solutions to the global climate crisis. The novel hybrid timber structure is significantly lower in embodied carbon and offers a substantial reduction in the building’s carbon footprint.

This is assisting Atlassian’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In addition, the timber provides a warm and inviting environment for

Atlassians and visitors. Measuring at approx. 180 meters / 590 feet high - this will be the tallest commercial hybrid timber building in the world.

Expressing her support for this groundbreaking project, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “Atlassian is a great Australian success story and it’s very fitting for them to have their headquarters here in Sydney. Tech Central will rival Silicon Valley as the place to be. This means more jobs and opportunities for all of our citizens.”

With development applications set to be lodged in coming months and plans to begin construction next year, William Sharples, Founding Principal, SHoP, commented: “Our collective work around the world focuses on elevating the experience of the public realm in urban environments, so we really welcome this opportunity to work with such wonderful partners to create a high-performance landmark for Sydney's new tech district, at ground level and in the skyline.”

SHoP/BVN found an elegant

Image © SHoP Architects/BVN

life into this part of Sydney. It’s an amazing design. We’ve searched the world to find the best architects and engineers to put it together. We’re embarking on this project at a critical time. Projects like these will help the state and the nation bounce back from the massive impact of COVID-19. The space that we are building will be highly sustainable and highly flexible. it will be purpose-built for the future of work, for tomorrow’s world, not today’s. Even with a highly distributed workforce, we’ll need a place to come together.

Now we can design this space especially for these new ways of working,” added Farquhar.

way to tie a structural element of the building to one of the building’s most aesthetic attributes - the façade. The tower includes a steel exoskeleton that supports the mega floors between neighborhoods. The current design also incorporates an electricity-generating facade system with self-shade capabilities to reduce direct heat gain internally. Combined with the use of mass timber, the innovative facade enables the project to leverage Sydney's temperate climate to help reduce carbon emissions and generate on site energy.

“Atlassian has their eyes set

firmly on the future, this project will achieve a number of ‘firsts’ globally and in Australia. It will make what was once best practice seem inadequate and hopefully lift the ambition of the built environment across Australia,” said Ninotschka Titchkosky, Co-CEO, BVN. “The building is designed in four storey ‘habitats’, each habitat has a park that is fully naturally ventilated, the innovative ventilation strategy for the building also permeates the floorplates.”

To achieve the reduction in embodied carbon, the building will be constructed with a combination of mass timber, concrete and

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incredibly green material, and it helps us avoid massive amounts of concrete and steel," he said.

"We are pushing the limits already beyond anything that we know with that material."

“We have developed an innovative new approach to designing tall towers using a hybrid structure where the volumetric mass is timber. This approach significantly reduces the embodied carbon of the tower by up to 50 percent when compared to traditional tall building construction, setting a new sustainability standard for tower construction in the future,” added James O’Callaghan, Eckersley O’Callaghan Founding Director.

“Shop and BVN are a 50/50 design collaboration based on shared values and attitudes to architecture. We are both strong advocates for sustainable design, smarter construction and human centered environments. Our shared experiences make for a rich collaboration. This project is not just about being green, it’s a whole systems approach to design, construction and habitation. It will demonstrate that change is possible and has many advantages for the planet, our cities and business. We can’t keep doing things the way we have been for the past 50 years and expect different outcomes.

We need the development and construction community to see the potential in new ways of doing things and get on board if we are to make the impact we need,” concluded Titchkosky.

steel. “For a lower height building you can build totally in timber, at 40 storeys we need to hybridize the structural system,” Titchkosky said. “We have worked with some of the world’s best structural engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan and TTW to develop the structural solution. This will be the tallest hybrid timber structure in the world.”

The design aims to pursue Atlassian’s sustainability aspirations through innovative climate concepts, construction and building operations. As such, park spaces have been integral in the design of this workplace, creating a staggered outdoor

garden in a Sydney high rise tower.

Level 1 communal activities are located at the first of the elevated parks of the tower, providing protected outdoor spaces that will be comfortable all year round.

Combined with the novel use of mass timber, the innovative facade enables the project to leverage Sydney's temperate climate to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent over a ten-year period.

According to Atlassian's Head of Global Workplace Experience, Scott Hazard, sustainability was a key focus for the tower, which would be built to last 100 years.

"Cross-laminated timber is an

Image © SHoP Architects/BVN

SHoP Architects/BVN

The lower floors of the tower will entail approximately 480 beds of Railway Square YHA accommodation, which offers more than just a place to stay, but a like-minded community of people within the building and the precinct. The Jury noted that the SHoP/BVN concept design demonstrated the strongest approach to the YHA through an integration with Atlassian, while still maintaining its own identity. The Parcels Shed (the

current YHA building) once coordinated the delivery and dispatch of parcels from Central Station from 1912 to the early 1980s. The current design intent is to reflect upon our past and create a new future by having the Parcels Shed integrate into the development and act as an inviting public space.

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Perkins & Will complete a sculptural landmark and coffee house in the heart of Vancouver’s emerging art, design, and innovation district

Primarily constructed of prefabricated mass timber, the complex and expressive building demonstrates a progressive manufacturing and sustainable approach

Image © Ema Peter

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accessible design that welcomes the public and puts the creative processes on display.

Image © Ema Peter

A landmark as a catalyst to inspire culture

The Great Northern Way Pavilion is relatively small project in stature but it makes a statement like no other structure in the City of Vancouver. Design by Perkins & Will, the pavilion is a stunning architectural achievement.

Inspired by the intricate layered composition of flowers, the pavilion, which was completed in February of this year, is both a coffee house and landmark sculpture.

industrial land is changing face with a blooming art scene that aspires to position the precinct as Vancouver’s new art, design and innovation district. The relocation of Emily Car University of Art + Design, previously located on Granville Island since 1980, to its new building north of the pavilion’s site, creates a campus that provided the rich context and cultural inspiration for the pavilion.

Primarily constructed of prefabricated mass timber, this complex and expressive building demonstrates a progressive manufacturing and sustainable approach. The uniquely curved petal forms overlap creating an undulating pattern comprised of five inner petals that form the grand singular volume and five outer petals that flare out to announce the three entrances.

The petals converge at the top to form an oculus filtering daylight to illuminate the wood clad interior creating a warm and inviting ambience.

The pavilion is both a coffeehouse and a landmark sculpture building that anchors the regeneration of an industrial zone. It will be the catalyst for the area’s redevelopment and connection to the city.

Composed as a sequence of ten interconnected and undulating fractal petals, the pavilion’s form takes inspiration from the delicate and intricate layered composition of flowers. The colorful petals share a common locus, they curve, overlap, rotate, flare, and rise - as they would in nature.

Vancouver’s new art, design and innovation district

Akin to flowers attracting birds, the pavilion aspires to attract and engage the emerging community of artists and students with an open and

The False Creek Flats neighborhood in East Vancouver is transforming. The former

The idea of the pavilion emerged by recognizing that the new campus needed a heart; a place for collaboration and social connection. The existing zoning allowed for a 60ft high building along Great Northern Way that reaches the edge of the public plaza. The architects approach, which resulted in a rezoning, was to increase the allowable building height at 565 Great Northern Way to 100ft, allowing for a civic strategy to nearly double the size of the public realm, improve daylight, capitalize on mountain and city views, and create opportunities for social connection.

The building has a simple circular footprint and sits unbiased within the heart of the campus.

The overlapping undulating

petals flare out to announce the pavilion’s three entrances: Two are located towards the public plaza to the west to create an open invitation to the community. The third entry is facing east, connecting to the pedestrian spine to Wilson Arts Plaza, the office building at 565 Great Northern Way, and the multi-use pathway connecting to East Vancouver along Great Northern Way.

Physical organization and form

The physical form and organization of the project emerged from a series of design studies that explored how to re-imagine the campus plaza, the expression of a freestanding landmark therein, and the role of a coffeehouse programme in activating the public realm and connecting the community of artists and students.

The five inner petals form a grand singular volume: they

Image © Ema Peter

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follow a simple cross section, revolved around the center of the pavilion. Each of the inner petals’ footprint is narrowest as it meets grade to allow visual connection to and from the plaza; the petals gradually expand in width as they curve to transition from wall to ceiling, and then converge to culminate at the top forming an oculus and filtering light into the interior.

During concept design, the team was determined to explore what is possible in wood construction through digital fabrication - the use of which is rising due to the complexity of building forms and the increasing demand for precision and speed in construction. They also aspired to use wood as the main structural elements as well as the interior finish of the pavilion.

The five outer petals are more expressive, sculpted to announce a landmark in the plaza with animated curves and inviting flares around the pavilion entrances. The petals expand as they curve to shape the pavilion’s roof, overlap, rise and connect towards the top of the pavilion announcing the presence of the oculus and the connection to daylight through the skylight.

Through material and fabrication research, and in collaboration with industry partners, the design team proposed fabricating a complex curvature Nail Laminated Timber (NLT) structural panel; a proof of concept prototype for a curved mass timber structure.

The prototype was composed of readily available standard 2x lumber, cut at precise angles to aggregate the panel curvature, and laminated together using wooden dowels and aluminum nails to form a faceted structural shell of complex double curvature.

Environmental and social awareness

Socially, the pavilion aspires to be a catalyst for social connection and a cultural inspiration to an emerging arts and design community. Environmentally, the pavilion is connected to a district energy source, and is targeting LEED Gold. The pavilion’s sustainable approach means that it possesses more durable systems, sustainably sourced and local materials, efficient below-slab air handling HVAC systems, has greater thermal insulation, and offers a healthier and more comfortable environment for its inhabitant.

Daylight

Image © Perkins & Will

The central skylight and perimeter glazing offer excellent daylight levels and create a comfortable and inviting environment for gathering.

LEED2009 daylight simulation indicates 80.6 percent of the regularly occupied spaces achieve daylight illuminance levels of a minimum of 107 Lux (10 footcandles) and a maximum of 5,382 lux (500 footcandles) in a clear sky condition on September 21 at 9.00 and 15:00.

Design research

The design process of the pavilion connects the dots between design, technological innovation and hands-on physical creation.

Leveraging computational design and advanced fabrication techniques, the shell was milled by a 5-axis CNC router to achieve smooth curved interior surface finish. The shell panels were set to be assembled together for the actual build of the project.

The development of a smooth curved NLT shell highlights innovation in applying advanced industrial fabrication methods to a historic natural and sustainable building material, enabling wood structures to address complex building forms, and thus opening up new possibilities for the future of wood construction in the industry.

Fabrication

Learning from the curved NLT prototype, the design team worked with the structural engineers and fabricators to optimize the petal forms, and develop a lighter and more cost effective structural solution. The final structure is a prefabricated waffle-based system that comprises hybrid timber and steel plate structural components.

Each petal is composed of curved Glue Laminated Timber (Glulam) column beams with embedded CNC steel plate splines, Laminated

Image © Nick Diamond

Image © Nick Diamond

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Strand Lumber (LSL) purlins, CNC blocking and plywood sheathing. The inner petals connect structurally to a steel ring beam to form the free span dome structure, while the outer petals rest on the inner petals’ structure.

Each petal consists of a number of individual panels, fabricated at the shop, sized to fit a flatbed truck, shipped, and then assembled and erected on site.

Wood: an act of urban repair

Globally, construction of buildings uses 40 percent of global resources. The decision to construct this complex and expressive structure in wood was intentional and deliberate - a proof of concept through research and innovation, on small scale, for the recognition of wood as an option

for complex structures which offers a higher quality of space and a sustainable way of meeting global demand for buildings.

Wood allowed the design team to rethink interiors - moving away from stark white gypsum walls towards the warm glow of a natural material. Wood also offers significant environmental benefits. Wood is a carbon sink, which means wood buildings can sequester carbon - unlike any other building material. Wood is also 50 percent carbon by weight, its use supports the local forest economy and is an incentive to restore and maintain healthy forests.

Prefabrication, used extensively for the production of the

Image Š Nick Diamond

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Image Š Nick Diamond

pavilion, allowed for economy and conservation of material and energy usage in production and assembly. Environmentally sensitive products are used for all materials such as engineered birch plywood and FSC certified lumber.

The pavilion materials capitalize the effects of light and reflection, animating the facades and interior space. These areas are treated with two sharply contrasting materials, both in color and texture.

The application of the materials is simple. The exterior is finished with a field of overlapping painted aluminum composite shingles that offer texture and unique light reflection as the form curves and undulates. The exterior paint is a fusion of two

subtly different shades of red that reflect light in different ways depending on view angle further accentuating the petals’ curvature.

The edge is finished in a CNC cut and curved red aluminum plate following the outline of the petals and sitting one inch proud of the shingles, defining a crisp edge to the form, and forming a guide for controlling rain. The interior is clad in overlapping vertical strips of light Birch plywood that curve and expand to follow the petal forms. The light shade of plywood provides warmth, illuminates the interior spaces as it reflects ambient light, and creates a neutral but animated backdrop for the activities inside the coffee shop.

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‘SCM Live Show’ is an unprecedented success

Image © SCM

Presentations and in-depth discussions with SCM experts on the latest technologies for the wood industry

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More than 4000 ‘on-line’ guests from 100 countries took part in the ‘SCM Live Show’, which streamed lived from June 30 to July 2, 2020. A television show with more than 24 hours of original content was broadcast in nine different languages over the course of three days, and presented the latest 2020 technologies that should have ‘taken to the stage’ at the various international trade fairs that have been postponed or cancelled since February of this year due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

With the ‘SCM Live Show’ event, SCM decided to use innovative multimedia channels and tools to ‘open the doors’ of its headquarters in Italy, via the web, to thousands of customers from all over the world. SCM, the multinational group with its main headquarters in Rimini, and a global leader in the wood machining industry since 1952, brought its new machines and industrial plants for the entire wood machining industry, directly to its customers own homes: from the furniture industry to windows and doors and from the construction industry to artisan businesses.

The corporate headquarters in Rimini and the group's other

production sites around Italy were transformed into television studios to achieve the vast show schedule of live link-ups, webinars and talk shows. Thirty product webinars saw more than fifty technological solutions take center stage to represent the vast range of SCM products and services starting with the Smart&Human Factory, the wellknown human-friendly digital factory for the furniture industry.

The response from industry businesses was even better than expected. Looking at the access data to the streaming platform set up by SCM for the occasion - over 4,000 registrations from one hundred countries on every continent, with an average daily audience of 1,500 individual viewers. The same customers who enrolled took part actively, constantly using the various channels made available during the event to interact with SCM experts and discuss the latest products and key industry trends.

The commitment in terms of human resources was also considerable. More than fifty professionals hired for this unique ‘digital trade fair’ including cameramen, technicians, writers, director and presenter. More than one hundred SCM employees were

involved in the preparation and creation of the show. SCM's eighteen directly managed branches operating in the most strategic markets in the wood industry around the world, in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, America and Oceania were also involved with live link-ups.

SCM technology in action

The numerous technological new entries displayed integrated stand-alone cells and machines - satisfy the most varied production needs of secondary wood processing: from upgrades on the wide range of machining centers and panel drilling to those concerning machining centers for solid wood and timber construction: from proposals for flexible and j-shape industrial edgebanding, to angular sizing; from integrated surface treatment, with the latest in the ranges for pressing, sanding and finishing, to state-of-the-art solutions for packaging; from specific technologies for windows and doors and integrated lines for doors, to models for squaringtenoning and profiling. As ever, with a focus on the widest range and sought-after collection of joinery machines, with a new cell for sizing, drilling and edgebanding and the exclusive launch of a new app for artisan

workers.

The Smart&Human Factory for the furniture industry

Already presented at Ligna 2019, after numerous implementations in cutting-edge markets in Europe, the United States and China, SCM's Smart&Human Factory was re-proposed with new additions to further increase productivity and flexibility, reduce waste and optimize the quality of the end product even on more sensitive markets. The new version - only an example of the various configurations that this production model can achieve based on customer needs involves three modular, flexible automated cells integrated with articulated robots and interconnected by intelligent AMR unmanned shuttles.

Sizing/nesting cell: The ‘morbidelli x200’ nesting machining center, designed for ‘batch 1’ flexible production is directly integrated into the high performing ‘flexstore hp’ automatic storage for boards.

This allows the stored and labelled panel to be directly loaded on to the worktable which protects those panels with a delicate surface. Once the nesting function has terminated, an articulated robot unloads the operating panel directly from

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the worktable and positions the different parts on the AMR shuttles which depart towards the next cell for edgebanding.

Another new aspect concerns the management of smaller pieces and waste: the robot also picks these up, making them available for future madeto-order productions with a considerable reduction in waste material.

The cell is also designed so that all the panels with no problems of delicate surfaces can be manually unloaded from the belt. The ‘pack’ cut made with a blade that guarantees high productivity on repetitive logical cuts is done simultaneously to the nesting that offers excellent flexibility when cutting single sheets. This function is carried out by the new ‘gabbiani p80’ panel saw, that was given its world preview at the event.

This model offers a number of exclusive advantages: the ‘Sawset’ device for an automatic, precise setting of the tools, the 60 and 80 mm blade projections, more powerful motors, an additional extractor outlet on

the presser and automatic blade release with switch.

Flexible edgebanding cell: The new ‘batch 1’ ‘stefani cell E’ cell is configured with an articulated robot for fully automatic management of panel loading/unloading operations.

The solution combines the advantages of a customized production and large volumes with a compact overall design and, above all, with an accessible investment even for SMEs. Parameters like color, edge thickness, the position and depth of the mortise, the management of the protective film and panel sizes can be continually changed without interrupting the production flow. With the new gantry panel return system for the automatic return of panels, the panel is automatically rotated to speed up the next infeed. It is also possible to unload at the end of the cycle in masked time with the next loop load.

Packaging cell: This cell is the ideal solution for furniture kit manufacturers and includes two machines, that have been given

their global preview. The ‘cut c 200’, an automatic punching machine for the just in time cutting and production of an open cardboard box, with the required sizes and shape; and the ‘pack c 100’, an automatic solution for packaging with hot melt glue, starting with a prepunched sheet of cardboard. All the operator has to do is position the product for packaging on the open box (in this case the panels coming from the edgebanding cell) after which, the upper lid is automatically closed by the ‘pack c 100’. Thanks to the automatic measurement change setting, packaging for different size boxes can be created.

Integrated surface treatment

SCM introduced three examples of the integrated process for exclusive, sought-after finishing solutions at the ‘SCM Live Show’, demonstrating its’ capacity to make its mark on the market as a unique, complete partner in this sector.

Flexible painting cell: The versatility of the finishing

Image © SCM

effects is guaranteed by the ‘dmc eurosystem’ sanding machine, fitted with two new additions: a completely new planetary unit, ideal for structuring, chamfering, sanding the cross grain and precision finishing of any surface, and the interchangeable brushes unit, ideal for those in search of maximum production flexibility. The integration with the Superfici ‘mini’ sprayer is essential. It is ideal for the sprayer's automation even in small businesses, that allow for the easy management of small production batches with regular product changes.

Painting panels with the latest 3D effects and super opaque finishings: This involves highly innovative solutions like the ‘dmc system’ sanding machines that transform the concept of sanding machine in a flexible abrasive modular center, and the Superfici ‘valtorta f1’ roller and ‘magnum’ spray painting systems. A combination that allows you to achieve some of the most sought-after finishings requested by today's market.

Image © SCM

Image © SCM

ImageImage © SCM© SCM

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3D Lamination: This integrated process example includes sanding, with the innovative units for gouging and brushing in the ‘dmc system’ range and the state-of-the-art Superfici systems for applying glue, that is, the efficient Cartesian robots with the ability to 3D scan pieces for selective spraying of edges and routings. The process concludes with the ‘sergiani 3d form hp’ press, a solution with high productivity levels and flexibility thanks to the ‘Flexy Pin’ system and the configuration of the press up to three trays, that reduces the cycle time to the pressing time only. High definition of the end product even with the most complex 3d surfaces.

Machining centers for furniture: the evolution of the ‘morbidelli’ range

If the all-in-one ‘morbidelli m100’ machining center for drilling and routing evolves further with the new ultra-compact, reduced bulk solution, that makes the 5-axis machine the smallest on the market, in the ‘morbidelli p800’ boring-milling

and edgebanding center, the combination between the MATIC work table and the innovative operator unit allows the most complex shaped pieces to be machined in just a few steps. For nesting, the ‘morbidelli x200/ x400’ range makes its mark by cutting pieces, even shaped ones, in a variety of forms and sizes with production levels once considered inconceivable for this kind of machining. Flexibility and high productivity find their ideal synthesis in the drilling process with ‘morbidelli ux200’. Thanks to 4 separate operator units (two upper and two lower), any kind of piece can be machined in a few steps. Furthermore, the possibility of machining two overlapping pieces means the production of symmetrical pieces can be doubled.

Panel sizing: the ‘gabbiani a2’ world preview and the new ‘gabbiani gt2’

As well as the ‘gabbiani p80’ included in the Smart&Human Factory, the event presented another new world preview: the ‘gabbiani a2’ angular panel saw, designed to meet all the

Image © SCM Image Image©©SCM SCM

Image Image © © SCM SCM

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demands of panel machining, from mass production to ‘batch 1’, and particularly suitable for companies that are more conscious of machine cleaning and the working environment thanks to the innovative ‘Zero dust system’ unit. The new ‘gabbiani a2’ with 95, 115 and 125 blade projection, offers maximum performance in terms of productivity and cutting quality. The ‘gabbiani gt2’ single-blade saw designed to guarantee high performance in an evolved industrial context of just in time productions, was also highlighted. The new ‘Hi-Tronic vertical stroke’ blade carriage, in particular, allows for excellent finishing and accurate cutting even at high speed, with surprising results in terms of productivity and cutting quality over time.

Edgebanding: seventy years of high technology by the side of the most innovative businesses ‘SCM Live Show’ was also an

opportunity to celebrate the seventy-year anniversary of the Edgebanding Business Unit. A long road featuring high technology and know-how, at the side of artisan businesses just as much as that of large industries, thanks to a wide range of models: from the continually evolving single-sided ‘stefani’ and ‘olimpic’ edgebanders, to the cells and plants fitted with rollers, panel return devices, automatic loading and unloading systems, assisted by robots and fitted with IoT sensors for an increasingly more immediate confirmation of the machine's running, in line with the demands of Industry 4.0.

These include the new generation of ‘stefani cell’ and ‘stefani rocket’ flexible industrial edgebanding systems for ‘batch 1’ machining, modular systems available for machining with or without panel squaring, capable of adapting to current production demands and machining quality. Also highlighted were the most advanced models for softforming

like ‘stefani one’, designed to offer maximum personalization in achieving design products.

Windows and doors

The ‘accord’ machining centers for the manufacturing of windows and doors was also highlighted during the ‘SCM Live Show’.

The latest evolution in the range, ‘accord 42 fx’, attracted considerable interest both from window and door manufacturers as well as door and staircase manufacturers. With combined three and five axis double machining units with independent heads, it has been designed to best combine the need for high power and profiling with creativity and production flexibility needs.

Unique quality and precision are the advantages of the ‘accord 25 fx’ thanks to its gantry structure and powerful 5-axis electrospindle. The MATIC work table and the innovative BRC multi-function unit reduce set-up and tool change times guaranteeing excellent productivity. For larger sized

pieces, the solution is represented by the ‘accord 50 fxm’ that stands out for its structure, designed to guarantee maximum rigidity and precision, and its exclusive 5-axis machining unit.

The most flexible machining center in the category that can be used both in cell as well as stand-alone mode, is the ‘accord wd’, SCM's innovative solution that allows for the loading and unloading cycle of solid wood elements (like door and window structures) to be automated.

The ‘superset nt’ range for throughfeed moulding has alo been updated for manufacturers of profiles for windows, doors, staircases and furniture. The structure of the new model allows the user to work in complete comfort and safety: relative supports allow you to hook the extractor hood covers directly on to the machine, millimetric rules simplify the manual positions of the operators' drive heads and tool change operations are always guided.

LEADING THE WAY For 15 Solid Years 7-9 September 2020 Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE

BOOK YOUR STAND www.woodshowglobal.com

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Work from home in this pre-fabricated timber cabin by Hello Wood Transcending the conventional cubeshape, the Workstation is more like a piece of art that blends into the landscape Budapest-based architect studio, Hello Wood has designed and built its newest take on cabins, dubbed the Workstation.

The playful Workstation cabin is the ideal, private spot for work and meetings, but it can also function as a guest room or a playroom for the kids, and is the perfect refuge should you need a tranquil place to relax or immerse yourself into creativity.

Tiny house in your backyard?

Private retreat in your own garden? This cabin is for those who want to work or relax without actually leaving their own garden. The 8-squaremeter unique wooden house can be set up in the back garden and its functions are limited only by the imagination of the user.

Image © Darab Zsuzsa

The insulated and soundproof house can function as a workstation, a meeting room, a kids playroom and a perfect hiding place if you are looking for a quiet space to read, relax and exercise. In the current pandemic situation, when tens of thousands work from home, it is even more crucial to have a separated, pleasant workplace.

When designing a compact house, the starting point is to create a complex, highly functional space. Given the small size, each and every square inch of the interior counts. The Workstation is the love child of design and

architecture; transcending the conventional cube-shape, it is more like a piece of art that blends into the landscape.

According to the team at Hello Wood, in the pebbleshaped cabin that brings the illustrations from our favorite childhood books to life, nature feels truly close. As such, the interior is dominated by natural Scots pine wood and gigantic windows that invite the world of the garden inside.

The timing of the cabin’s release would suggest that the studio designed the project specifically for the needs of quarantine home office work. However, Hello Wood had actually started the design process before the start of the pandemic. The lockdown situation simply accelerated the rise of demand, which had been already growing and was present (the need for separated workspaces).

“We started designing the Workstation Cabin a few months before the lockdown,” said Dávid Ráday, Co-Founder of Hello Wood. “Although there had been a need for more separate meeting rooms before the pandemic, there is now a rapidly growing demand for isolated work possibilities.”

Design process

“We imagined how six people would use the space and

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developed the shape accordingly.

We took inspiration from the design of space capsules, and the cabin was refined step by step before reaching its final form,” commented Ráday. “Our main focus this year is to design new cabins while expanding our boundaries in wooden architecture.”

Owing to this fact, the design team had to create unique building structure solutions since the Workstation has a multidimensional shape going against all the classical forms of a cabin/ house. Walls flow into roof and vice versa. When a building has two (or even more sides) coming together, the main concern is to keep it watertight. This meant that special intersections had to be designed.

The overall aim was to create a cabin that feels natural - both from the inside and outside. Big windows connect the interior with nature, bushes, trees.

Further, the exterior of the cabin

The 15-sided cabin has an outdoor ‘terrace’ formed by two hexagonal platforms, which is accessed via a small stair that leads to a glass door. The irregular form complements the landscape, and can be read as an intriguing sculptural installation that presents a different face from every angle.

According to the architects, the most rewarding aspect about the project is definitely the fact that they were able to create an (architecturally speaking) odd shape that functions perfectly. More importantly, the Workstation is a truly modular and prefab cabin that can be installed almost anywhere.

The 91 square foot cabin was developed over the course of two months, and it was initially intended to be a conference room

Image © Hello Wood

During the design process Hello Wood drew inspiration from space cabins and space capsules.

They put high emphasis on the shape, one could call the process rather product design than building and structure design.

looks organic; this bridges the gap between the interior and the exterior. The organic form sits easily in the landscape, while large windows invite garden views inside.

Image © Hello Wood

“Our goal was to make houses communicate more with the natural environment than the built one. This way, they have an installation, statue or objectlike feeling to them. With an architectural logic, they can be compared to the bodywork of cars, as their shape is at least as important as their function,” added Tamás Fülöp, Project Architect at Hello Wood.

Image © Hello Wood

After the initial brief, the aim with the cabin with a total floorspace of 8.5 square meters was to create a quality space; quality not as a result of size, but owing to a well-designed complexity. It was primarily intended to be a conference room, as it can host six people comfortably. But it can also be used as a private office, a home office and an overnight accommodation, as it has enough room for a double mattress.

Image © Hello Wood

Image © Hello Wood

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that could comfortably host six people. During development, the team realized it could also easily accommodate a double mattress, enabling it to become a flexible, multipurpose space.

“It was designed for two groups of people,” says Ráday. “Firstly, companies seeking to offer a unique meeting room experience for clients - and to give their employees the opportunity to work in a private space, and secondly, individuals wanting a private backyard office that can double as a guest bedroom.”

Materials

interior ensures the comfort of the room in the winter, while the built-in A/C protects from the heat of summer days. Seamless work is made possible in the cabin, which is fully equipped with power, air conditioning, heating, and internet connection.

The cabin is manufactured using state-of-the-art technologies.

Designed on the computer, the blueprint can be instantly forwarded to the CNC machine.

In spite of the serial production, the cabin is anything but twodimensional (it has 15 sides), and shows a different face from every angle.

The primary material for the cabin is wood; the interior is clad in FSC Scots pine timber. Two windows and a skylight allow natural light to fill the space. The only fixed object is the built-in bench. A simple desk allows the cabin to function as a workspace or meeting room, or the desk can be removed and replaced by a mattress or futon.

The Workstation adapts to the change of seasons; its insulated

The pod is delivered fully assembled and lifted onto the

Image © Hello Wood

In terms of the materials used, the cabin has been built using a wooden frame structure, which is coated with PVC insulation.

As the client’s desire was to have a ‘woody’ feeling from the outside as well, the studio chose weatherproof wood cladding, but in reality they could have worked with composite, metal, aluminum or corten cladding as well.

Image © Hello Wood

Image © Hello Wood

site using a crane, so installation takes only a few days. Sitting on small stilts - that are attached to ground screws - the cabin almost appears to have touched down from outer space.

Modular prefab homes have the advantage of being delivered in one, so the customer doesn’t have to live at a construction site for months.

As a consequence, any part of the module can be replaced easily if necessary, as opposed to brick buildings where every little change requires some demolition work.

“Thanks to the huge glass windows, you feel close to nature while sitting in the cabin,” adds Ráday. “The unique shape of the cabin also provides an exciting experience - there are no separate walls and roof, which gives it a special feeling.

It’s definitely not your regular meeting room.”

Special attention was paid to

how the panels fit together to ensure the cabin is watertight and can cope with both cold winters and warm summers.

The shape of the panels has been optimized to create minimal waste when cutting the material.

The main challenge was creating a completely waterproof shell in such an irregular shape. Special intersections were designed, and the material had to be treated to protect it against rain and snow. Given that the Workstation Cabin was designed using CAD, all elements have been precision cut using a CNC machine.

“There’s no question as to whether it was worth it or not when it comes to quality in our projects. Overall, it was a very long, but very rewarding process and we’re really proud to have created a modular, prefab cabin that can be installed almost anywhere and that functions perfectly,” concludes Ráday.

We Know

Wood.

And we want to share what we know about some of the most beautiful, sustainably-grown species in the world.

Softwood Export Council is your go-to resource for information on U.S. wood products, and we’re invested in creating and maintaining relationships world-wide. With industry connections across the United States, there’s no better avenue into importing the highest quality American species.

For more information, visit www.americansoftwoods.com