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Quick to build, affordable office has the ‘wow’ factor with earthy SterlingOSB Zero

 

In need of a bigger space to work from, TMV architects harnessed its own team’s design and build skills to create an office using a combination of West Fraser’s SterlingOSB Zero and corrugated metal. Six years ago, the fledgling practice had outgrown its annex accommodation above a garage in the home of one of its directors and  . . .

“we wanted our own building; something to give us an identity and space to accommodate clients.” explains Thomas Mann, a director.

The practice bought a plot of land which was occupied by a disused BT repeater station building in Cambridgeshire. Today, the brick repeater station building has been replaced with TMV’s new office, a simple black, single-storey metal-clad contemporary building, complete with a pitched roof to accommodate a mezzanine floor. With the exception of two car parking spaces at the front, the new office almost fills the plot.

Budget was a major constraint when it came to the new building so TMV’s design is based on a superstructure of locally-manufactured structurally insulated panels (SIPs). The panels consist of a 140mm insulating foam core sandwiched between two SterlingOSB Zero sheathing boards. The result is a building system that is extremely strong and energy efficient.

“We designed the office with a large, vaulted roof which, if built traditionally, would have required a lot of expensive steelwork. However, because vaulted roofs are relatively easy to construct using SIPS, all we needed was a couple of timber posts,” explains Mann.

The simple SIPs walls rise from an insulated concrete raft foundation. The uncomplicated design meant very few contractors were needed; this allowed the practice to project manage construction. With the foundation slab cast, a single contractor assembled the SIP-walls and pitched roof. Within a week, the shell was up and wrapped in a membrane so that the building was effectively watertight. Externally, the SIPs are clad in block corrugated metal sheets that lend the building a modern industrial aesthetic. That aesthetic is continued internally with a full-height gable wall featuring exposed SterlingOSB Zero.

The SterlingOSB Zero feature wall’s textured, organic finish is given additional emphasis by the crisp white plaster used to finish the adjoining walls. Mann says visitors often walk into the office and say ‘wow’, simply because OSB is a material they are not used to seeing in this context. The SterlingOSB Zero feature wall has also been given illuminated TMV branding. Eleanor Stamp, senior architectural designer at the practice says that, although the office had to be a cost-effective build, its open-plan design and the natural feel that the SterlingOSB Zero brings to the space makes it a great place to work:

‘Everyone loves working here; we’ve gone from two to eight staff in five years and no one has left,’ she says.

 

As is always the case, West Fraser’s experienced technical team is available

to aid with product specification

CLICK HERE for downloadable data sheets

For further informantion call 01786 812 921

or CLICK HERE to visit the West Fraser website

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Norbord to West Fraser – It’s Official

Norbord to West Fraser – official name change announced

 

The official name change, from Norbord Europe Limited to West Fraser Europe Limited, has been announced (3 July 2023).  The European engineered panel specialist has been known as West Fraser for the past three years; and contact and registered office details remain the same.

 

 

For further information, call 01786 812 921 or

 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEST FRASER WESITE

 

 

 

 

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International Timber ‘brews’ the ideal solution for Costa Coffee development

International Timber and Jewson have teamed up with local developer, Ascia Construction, to provide sustainable and quality cedar timber for the development of one of Costa Coffee’s latest drive-thru facilities.

 

Located at the Adanac Health and Innovation Campus in Southampton, the Costa Coffee drive-thru will provide at least 15 new jobs and soon begin to serve those working and visiting the hospital site. The new coffee shop will also cater to University Hospital Southampton staff using the campus’ park and ride facilities at the beginning and end of their shifts.

The building has been designed to include indoor seating for customer use, outdoor tables and a drive-thru window for customers on-the-go.

The initial design incorporated red and white render, cedar cladding and grey, powder coated metal roof and windowpanes, as well as turf borders, ornamental planting and newly planted trees surrounding the site’s boundary.

When John Packer, Timber Development Manager at Jewson, was first asked to secure the cedar cladding for this project, it was discussed whether UK Cedar or Western Red Cedar would be the best fit. The cladding designs included lots of individual pieces of cedar, all the same size but cut at different angles, to create a unique timber design that has become synonymous with Costa’s coffee shops over time.

Due to the complexity of the design and to ensure the visual aesthetic of the cladding, both John and the team at Ascia Construction decided Western Red Cedar would provide the ideal solution; helping to minimise knots and to prioritise quality, durability and sustainability.

John comments: “This project was one of the first major enquiries we’d worked on for Ascia Construction and we wanted to ensure that the quality of the materials, together with the customer service provided met the company’s expectations.

 

 

“International Timber proved to be the perfect choice of supplier, offering a cost-competitive quote, alongside a high-quality, durable product.”

 

International Timber’s Western Red Cedar is often a favourite for both internal and external cladding due to its natural resistance to decay and insect attack, as well as being an excellent material for thermal insulation – keeping the building cool in summer and preventing heat from escaping in winter.

Both John and the International Timber team worked closely to deliver 32 finish x 32 finish PSE cedar, providing samples which had been machined to specification and brought onto site to ensure the customer was satisfied right from the beginning. John then made two more visits throughout construction; once when the cedar was first delivered and again when it was fitted – each time with those on site at Ascia commenting on the quality of the timber.

With (PEFC) certification, the team at Ascia Construction could rest assured that the cedar used would be in line with Costa’s sustainability objectives.

John continued:

“Each time I went on site, the guys from Ascia Construction would comment on the fantastic quality of the cedar – even going as far to say it’s the best cedar they had ever worked with, which of course was music to my ears. The project was finished in April this year and it really is a superior build with quality materials and craftmanship.”

CLICK HERE for more information on International Timber and its Western Red Cedar range

 

 

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West Fraser – perfect for your 2023 panel projects

As the expert in innovative engineered wood panels for the UK construction and housebuilding market, we support our customer in lots of ways. Our popular downloadable checklist for housebuilders and interactive product guide proved invaluable in 2022; they are simple tools which ensure you are choosing the best panel product for your project.

 

You can download the checklist which will help in the selection of the perfect product from floor to roof. As you’ll see, the checklist is just one of many resources, available here, designed especially for the housebuilder.

 

The housebuilders’ page includes a fully interactive product guide to download, details of projects using our popular boards, answers to frequently asked questions, and samples and brochures to order. A simple click on the tabs at the side of the guide opens up the chosen product, application or technical information page. Whatever the project, the easy-to-navigate guide makes choosing the right product simple. The guide contains all the information needed on panels in the SterlingOSB Zero, CaberFloor, and CaberMDF portfolios, including detailed technical product data and installation advice. In addition to this, our guide highlights different applications, including roofing, flooring, walling, timber frames, hoarding, shopfitting, and furniture among others such as moulding and packing.

 

If you prefer a paper copy of the guide, which also encompasses contact information for general enquiries and technical expertise, you can request one here!

 

As you’d expect from the UK’s No 1 producer of engineered wood panels, we are committed to playing our part in reducing our emissions, and we are greener than you might think.  Our products are net carbon negative.  Find out more here.

 

All West Fraser panel products produced in the UK are manufactured in mills that have obtained the coveted environmental ISO 14001 accreditation. Responsibly sourced, the panels are FSC-certified and created from locally grown timber, cutting embodied carbon from transportation.

For further information, call 01786 812 921.

 

 

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LATHAMS LAUNCHES NEW A&D SPECIFICATION TEAM 

A new team at materials supplier James Latham will connect architects, designers and specifiers with the most innovative and exciting products on the market today.

Bringing together expertise and insight from around the company, the Lathams Specification Team has been launched as a one-stop solution for materials specifiers.

There is a strong focus on products with unique benefits, including solid surfaces, hardwearing laminates, antimicrobial acrylics and robust exterior cladding.

Aesthetics are well catered for too, with the team able to recommend a range of surfaces, finishes, colours and styles suitable for any project. These include products that mimic other materials, such as decors that replicate the look and feel of various stones, woods and linens.

“There are many high-quality, advanced products being brought to market all of the time. It’s easy for specifiers to lose track of what’s available or just stick to what they know”, said Rob Goodman, who leads the team.

“What they are often unaware of is the broad range of options available to achieve that final finish that a customer has requested. By creating a single point of contact we can better support the A&D community and help them to find the right solution for their client’s brief.”

 

 

 

The team’s knowledge incorporates a broad product portfolio including solid surfaces such as HI-MACS and Avonite and decorative laminates and veneers from manufacturers including Egger, Xylocleaf, Kronospan and Decospan.  

While currently offering consultancy via video conferencing, the team will support customers throughout the UK, corresponding with the locations of Lathams various showrooms and depots.

The specification team comprises Debbie Northall (London), Joe Sepede (Yate, Thurrock and Hemel Hempstead), Natasha Smith (Dudley and Leicester), Mark Robinson (Leeds, Ireland and North West England) and David Schofield (Leeds, Gateshead and Scotland).

 To coincide with the announcement of the new team a solid surfaces website has also gone live, providing an additional detailed product resource for specifiers and customers.

Featuring product information, case studies, videos and inspirational images from HI-MACS, Avonite and Studio Collection brands, it offers guidance and support on the specification of solid surfaces for a range of architectural applications, both internally and externally.

 

To find out more visit www.lathamsolidsurface.co.uk

 

For more information about James Latham please visit www.lathamtimber.co.uk.

 

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Joe Bradbury explores the true potential of wood

As the built environment moves towards becoming eco-friendly, buildingspecifier Editor Joe Bradbury posits the question – are we not seeing the wood for the trees in the quest for a viable green alternative?

The construction industry accounts for almost 7% of the economy in the UK and we hold a 10% share of total employment. However, with great size comes great responsibility and unfortunately – a very big carbon footprint. 47% of greenhouse gas emissions are generated from buildings and 10% of CO2 emissions come from construction materials. Shockingly, 20% of the materials used on the average building site end up in a skip. According to a 2011 report, in 2010 up to 4.3 million tonnes of timber waste was generated.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom and reckless capitalism, as the construction industry has come on leaps and bounds over the past 20 years or so in a bid to make the industry a cleaner, greener entity. One area where vast improvements have been made is in the recycling and usage of wood in buildings. In 1992, less than 2% of all waste wood was recycled; 10 years later approximately 60% (2.8 million tonnes) of all wood waste generated in the UK was recycled.

The energy industry is also beginning to see the potential of wood for cleaning up its act. Because trees absorb carbon dioxide whilst they grow, burning wood for energy is considered ‘carbon neutral.’ In 2010 around 0.55 million tonnes of wood was used in energy generation. Some coal-fired power stations have had some of their boilers converted to accept wood and they burn more than 100,000 tonnes of recycled woodchip a year.

Remarkably, the future of wood in construction of buildings has reached soaring new heights recently as innovations in engineered timber could spell the beginning of a new era of eco-friendly wooden skyscraper design.

Despite wood in its raw form not being able to compete with the steel-frame design used in skyscrapers globally, a new type of super-plywood has been created that just might give steel a run for its money.

By gluing layers of low-grade softwood together to create timber panels, today’s “engineered timber” resembles Ikea flat-packed furniture rather than traditional sawn lumber and removes the height limits usually imposed on buildings with timber frames. Free from these constraints, ambitious architects are exploring the possibility of a next generation of “plyscrapers.”

Architect Michael Green has drawn up plans for a 30-storey, naturally grown tower for downtown Vancouver, which if built would become the world’s highest wooden building – an accolade currently awarded to London’s Stadthaus at nine storeys and the 10-storey Forte Building in Melbourne.

With China next on the list of countries suspected to implement timber skyscrapers into their cityscapes, it is definitely possible that we could one day be working in a building that began life as a seed.

However, there is still deep mistrust of timber builds en masse, with many considering them a tinderbox responsible for causing ravaging city fires such as the great fire of London, San Francisco and Chicago, to name a few examples.  Whilst historically fires have razed great cities to the ground, today’s engineered timber develops a protective charring layer that maintains structural integrity and burns very predictably. This means that it would actually be more structurally sound than steel, which warps drastically under intense heat.

NASA satellite photos of our planet help biologists calculate the number of trees there are on Earth. Whilst impossible to settle on a specific number, many professors agree that there are roughly 61 trees per person worldwide. It requires 22 trees to produce the amount of oxygen consumed by one person, with an acre of trees producing enough oxygen for 18 people. The forest loss is 49,421 acres per day, equivalent to an area twice the size of Paris – an alarming statistic when you consider the expanding population.

Obviously trees alone aren’t the answer to the construction industry’s environmental issues, however, through responsible usage and with the utmost respect it could help us edge further towards that cleaner, greener future we all need.

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Industry risks running out of timber soon if we don’t become more sustainable

A report commissioned by WWF finds that UK businesses must invest in sustainable forest management if they are to guarantee access to timber that their businesses rely on in the near future. Leading countries that supply timber to the UK are either at the point of expiry or running at a deficit as forest resources are used without adequate provision for sustainable timber supply.

However, the report highlights key benefits that will make the case for businesses to switch more rapidly to sustainable sourcing. These include:

  • advantages in regulatory positioning
  • easier raising of finance
  • added brand value
  • a more engaged workforce

It also gives manufacturers maximum scope for product development and provides retailers with a full range of tradable goods. These benefits can increase performance of the timber industry as a whole and ultimately aid the bottom line of all companies involved.

As the international market for timber will change in its dynamics in the next decades, without urgent action UK businesses who have failed to adequately plan for continuity of their timber resource could be left exposed with fewer commercial options.

Depleting sustainable resources

The implications are far reaching with WWF’s Living Forests report series concluding that global demand for timber is expected to triple by 2050 due to an increase in demand of wood and paper products from growing economies and populations. At the same time this report’s analysis indicates that:

  • Brazil has only 16 years of timber forests remaining, South Africa 7 years, Colombia 12 years, Mexico 9 years, Nigeria 11 years, Thailand 9 years and Pakistan 10 years.
  • Primary forest is being depleted at an alarming rate in many forested countries, the most extreme examples being Nigeria, losing 99% of primary forest, and Vietnam 80% since 1990 – a loss of almost 2 million hectares in these two countries alone. This has a huge impact on the biodiversity and other important forest ecosystem functions.
  • In the UK by 2050 less than 22% of the timber will originate from Britain.
  • All the UK foresters interviewed for the report expressed grave concerns over the future of domestic softwood supply.

The report also sets out how sourcing timber from sustainably managed forests, will help protect the natural environment as forests not only provide timber but also supply a range of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water provision, flood prevention, erosion control and biodiversity. Securing long-term supply of timber from sustainably managed forests, will help protect wildlife and ecosystem functions residing in these forests, as well assisting in securing wider social benefits, and is also a contributor to the bottom line of businesses utilising timber as a resource, which currently is as yet widely unaccounted for as a benefit, only as a cost.

Julia Young, Global Forest and Trade Network Manager for WWF-UK commented “Committing to sustainable timber sourcing isn’t just an added bonus, but is something that any timber dependent business must be investing in if they want a healthy and resilient business that will survive. This report sets out important areas in business functions where benefits are likely to accrue, but are not accounted for when making decisions about the overall cost benefit of sustainable sourcing. We can no longer rely on our usual sources of timber as unsustainable practices are having devastating consequences on forests, and we face a real danger of not having enough timber to satisfy our growing population needs.

“Businesses need to review how their timber is sourced if they want to secure supply for the future, and in keep timber prices stable. This will have tangible business benefits of sustainable practices including advantages in regulatory positioning, easier raising of finance, brand value and an engaged workforce. It also gives manufacturers maximum scope for product development and provides retailers with a full range of tradable goods. These business benefits can increase performance and ultimately aid the bottom line.

“The UK Government must lead by example and address sustainable forest use in the urgently upcoming 25 year plan for nature.”

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Is your timber legally harvested?

Designer furniture retailer Lombok has become the first business to be fined for breaching regulations introduced in 2013 to prohibit the importing and sale of illegally harvested timber.

Lombok was convicted and fined £5,000 plus costs after pleading guilty at the first hearing.

The company failed to exercise the required due diligence when placing an artisan sideboard on the market, imported on 1st June 2016 from India.

A previous breach of the relevant regulations had earlier been identified and led to a Notice of Remedial Action being served on Lombok on 28 April 2015; this was followed by a warning letter dated 7 October 2015 when the company failed to comply with the notice.

On 20 October 2016, officers visited Lombok’s central London showroom and found the required due diligence checks had not been made for an artisan sideboard for sale that had been imported from India.

When convicting the company District Judge stated these offences are “important”, addressing environmental concerns, biodiversity concerns, and public confidence that companies do not endanger those. Companies are required to mitigate the risk of illegal logging. Lombok had failed to exercise due diligence when importing the artisan sideboard, with their previous failures an aggravating feature, though in mitigation they had reacted proactively.

Taking into account their mitigation and credit for an early guilty plea, Lombok was fined £5,000, plus a victim surcharge of £170 and prosecution costs of £2,951. The total of £8,121 was ordered to be paid within 28 days.

Mike Kearney, Head of Regulatory Delivery Enforcement, said “The Government’s Regulatory Delivery team will take action against businesses that persistently, deliberately or recklessly fail to meet their legal obligations.

“Lombok failed to change their practises in response to our advice and so, given the impact of illegal logging, a criminal prosecution was appropriate. I am pleased that Lombok is now improving its supply chain monitoring.”

This prosecution was brought by the Insolvency Service Criminal Enforcement Team on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Regulatory Delivery team.

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UK timber shortage risk – industry response

Window Solutions response to an article we published last month entitled “Industry risks running out of timber soon if we don’t become more sustainable” posing the question: is PVC-U a more natural choice for windows as the sustainability of timber is called into question, or can the industry rebound?

Dear Editor,

On 11 July, you ran an article entitled ‘Industry risks running out of timber soon if we don’t become more sustainable’, which talked about the findings of a report from the WWF and the need for businesses to commit to sustainable timber sourcing to guarantee supplies for the future and keep timber prices stable. For the windows industry – and those specialising in wooden doors and frames – the report heralds an important warning which must not be ignored.

The world’s raw materials supply is being outstripped by growing global demand, and businesses everywhere must commit to using less. In the past, PVC too has faced similar challenges in supply and demand and we had to adapt quickly to survive.

We started small, recycling trade off-cuts more than 15 years ago. It’s relatively simple to recycle PVC and when used with new polymer, it can be given a new lease of life. Some reports suggest that PVC can be recycled up to 10 times in its lifetime, so future new polymer use could be significantly less if we recycle and reuse it more.

Our commitment to sustainability and using our resources more carefully has since expanded over the years – not because of the threat of another material supply crisis but because we needed to futureproof our business. We have invested more than €50m in new technology and facilities to ensure that more than half of our products will be made using recycled materials by 2020. Our ultimate goal is to use up to 100 per cent post-consumer waste in the core of our profiles.

At this year’s Fit Show, we launched our new co-extrusion profile, which uses new and recycled PVC together. For the replacement of first generation PVC-U windows, co-extruded profiles offer a closed loop process as the windows being taken out of a property can be recycled and reincarnated as new windows.

Our past resource crisis actually made us a better business committed to sustainability, and I hope that our timber counterparts in the windows industry will react and rebound in a similar way. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. Perhaps in the future we will see new wooden frame designs, which use less raw materials or take advantage of recycled material. This will be good for the progression of the market, new product development and this all benefits our customers.

The windows industry may yet come out of this timber crisis stronger, leaner and greener.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth Jones,
Marketing & Technical Director – Window Solutions at REHAU

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Brio puts a curve in it

Brio architectural hardware made an adventurous curved door project a reality for an innovative wedding venue in north Devon.

Tunnels Beaches is a network of hand carved tunnels leading to sheltered beaches and a tidal Victorian bathing pool at Ilfracombe, the location of a breath-taking beach front wedding venue operated by Devon Beach Weddings. The bespoke building curving out of the rock means there are no concerns about the UK weather and whatever turn it takes it is all visible through curved bi-folding glazed doors – whether opened or closed.

The owner had the idea to refurbish and at the same time to extend the upper story of the curved building by 2 metres, installing curved bi-folding glazed doors and thereby increasing capacity from 130 guests to 160. With a full house for weddings in 2017, (120+ weddings booked), over 100 weddings already booked for 2018 and prime dates in 2019 booking fast, the extension was a must.

Awlwood Joinery already had a good relationship with the owners Jamie and Zoe McLintock having worked with them at the Tunnels Beaches Bath House – an old Victorian bath house – which was turned in to wedding accommodation for the venues guests, so when the scheme was mooted to install curving bi-folding doors the McLintock’s turned to David Wray at Awlwood Joinery. “It wasn’t anything we had done before but we are skilled guys and the concept is not beyond the reach of man – after all we can send men to the moon – so we undertook the commission. The architect, RGP of Barnstaple, came up with a scheme and we did as they instructed – but with fewer doors (two sets, opening out). The design included wood cladding and lots of steel.

“We opted for the Brio Weatherfold 4s system after talking to Bob Harrison at Hebden & Holding architectural ironmonger and the Brio team which takes panels up to 1 metre wide. The decision was led by the architect’ plans and the constraints of the timber as you cannot have huge pieces of curved timber so we had to make up the doors from smaller pieces that would eventually be bolted together on site. The actual frame was put together by the owner’s site carpenters.”

David Wray says: “I am very pleased with the results especially with Brio’s new dual point locking mechanism. Most bi-folding doors are locked top and bottom which means reaching up and bending down to operate. The new Brio system is a finger locking mechanism. I am so impressed with it I am using it on all jobs. It may be more expensive but it is well worth the investment for the huge improvement and simplified operation and it looks so much better.

Brio’s 286 Dual Point Lock system launched last year has been joined by Brio’s 288 Lever Furniture to give joiners a deluxe option to offer their customers who now, more than ever, are looking for aesthetics as well as practicality.

Brio’s 286 Dual Point Lock is suitable for Brio’s tough exterior folding system Weatherfold 4s with timber or aluminium panels and for single hinge panels, such as French doors, up to 3.5 metres high, offering an alternative to the standard flushbolts. It is both ultra secure and aesthetically pleasing.

Rather than having the standard flushbolt at the top and the bottom of the door system on the inside of the property the end user can now choose a more sophisticated finish with the 288 lever handle readily accessible in the central part of the door so there is no reaching up or bending down to operate bolts.

“I am also impressed with Brio R&D – they are always coming up with new ideas and fixes. Best on the market. The solutions are effective and the Brio representatives are helpful and thoughtful – that’s a one-off!”

According to David Newton, General Manager UK at Brio, the demand for bi-folding and sliding exterior and interior doors is set to continue apace, with a variety of aesthetic demands from delicate ‘floating’ glass systems to commercial style projects such as this example in North Devon. “What this means in practice is that Brio, with its range of product and flexible attitude, will continue to keep pace with the architect’s need for innovative product that can transform anything they design on paper into reality,” he says.

For more details on the BRIO product range visit www.briouk.com
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