In Touch with Timber resounding success

TRADA's In Touch With Timber conference was voted a resounding success by delegates and exhibitors alike.

TRADA's In Touch With Timber conference was voted a resounding success by delegates and exhibitors alike.

The event, which took place on 10th May at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, attracted more than 260 delegates and was deemed to be 'thought-provoking and pertinent' to the audience of construction industry professionals.

Keynote speaker Kevin McCloud, Presenter of the Channel 4 Grand Designs programme, said that 'many, many more' timber buildings were being constructed in the UK than 10 years ago.

One of the reasons, he suggested, was that 20th Century modernism in building design had never taken root in the UK in the same way that it had in the rest of Europe.

"Now, designers were ready to embrace new ideas, while timber", he added, "allows us to integrate contemporary design with our sense of history".

Timber benefited, too, from technological advances in composite products such as I-beams and oriented strand board (OSB), as well as in ancillary building products like vapour permeable membranes and flexible render.

"Products like these have had a profound influence on the usability of timber and its long-term viability".

This, along with its obvious environmental advantages, assures timber a 'great and glorious' future.

Mike Taylor, Director of Hopkins Architects, gave a beautifully illustrated presentation on the award-winning refectory at Norwich Cathedral.

The project, he said, was completed using a 'palette of materials', including English oak, flint, limestone, glass and stainless steel.

The concept was to build a contemporary building within the original structure, a 'hermit crab' as the Dean called it.

Components were fabricated off-site and Hopkins worked closely with structural engineers Buro Happold to develop a minutely detailed 'kit of parts'.

Hopkins always choose to work with stainless steel, said Mr Taylor, because it doesn't react to the tannin found in timber.

Tannin from the oak cladding 'ran for up to a year', he added, so the stone below had to be wrapped in black plastic to prevent staining.

Sustainability in self-build was addressed by Ben Tuxworth, Contributing Editor of Green Future magazine.

Mr Tuxworth gave an amusing account of building his own home on a hillside near Cheltenham.

Sustainable development, he said, "is not just for the hairy people, it's the new normal".

He expressed disappointment, however, that his local planning authority did not seem very interested in his proposed home's energy analysis.

He also commented on the relative difficulty of finding skilled labour, a problem that will not go away.

The chippie he eventually employed was good - but had been working without an apprentice since 1985.

"What will happen to all these skills?" Mr Tuxworth asked.

In the afternoon, delegates were able to choose to attend three of six seminars.

Back to top