GOOD WOOD ON SHOW
Using more wood does not mean that people will have to compromise on lifestyle. Wood not only looks good but it performs well and modern engineered wood products are versatile and have impressive capabilities.
Here are some outstanding examples of the latest architectural designs around the world where wood has been used extensively in the construction both for its functional capabilities and aesthetic appeal.
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Oslo Airport
Opened in 1998, Norway’s new international airport ‘Gardermoen’ is believed to be the only major modern airport in the world to have a wooden structure.
The first priority for designers was that visitors from abroad should be impressed by the capability of Norwegian technology and ecological values and should see materials and construction techniques that represent Norwegian skills and materials – wood and stone were the preferred choices for the structure.
The visual concept of the main terminal building is a huge aircraft wing with an outer surface area of 24,500 m2. The wooden roof consists of a curved truss built with glue laminated (glulam) white pine. The overall length of the trusses is 136 metres and they are supported by three sets of concrete columns.
Timber is also extensively used in cladding and finishing to create a calm and relaxed environment as a counterpoint to the stress of international air travel.
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Award Winning New Zealand Bach
This holiday house at Otama in the Coromandel region of New Zealand picked up the best engineered timber design accolade in the Origin 2003 awards.
Designer Ken Crosson of Crosson Clarke Architects says the all-timber ‘bach’ is an attempt to provide an environment that captures the essential spirit of the New Zealand holiday in the New Zealand landscape. All the furniture was also custom designed in wood.
Photo supplied by: Origin Timber Awards |
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Sibelius Hall
Like many modern public buildings, the starting point for this new concert hall in Finland was an architectural competition and the organisers insisted that the design should be in timber.
The biggest challenge for the successful architects, Kimmo Lintula and Hannu Tikka, was the acoustic performance of the hall and the sound insulation of the walls around the large concert hall. American acoustic expert Russell Johnson defined the required performance and acted as a consultant. The hall, with its rounded balconies, is clad with birch plywood and has a birch floor. The entire structure is of glue laminated (glulam) spruce with curved glulam beams as guard rails and balcony supports.
The perimeter of the hall consists of plywood panels that can be opened towards the space in the entrance halls to modify the acoustics.
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Bungan Beach House, Sydney
This Australian house came out on top in the 2004 Australian Timber Design Awards.
Built into the slope above Bungan Beach, the house has sandstone retaining walls complemented by black-stained eco ply cladding, rough-sawn western red cedar boards and oiled western red cedar window frames.
“Effective use of timber needs timber-specific understanding,” says architect Rob Dawson. “You need to know what is applicable and appropriate for each application, and the location. We have also avoided using rare or endangered timbers.”
The internal walls are lined in hoop pine veneered plywood with floors in blackbutt. Joinery is hoop pine veneer.
Photo supplied by: Origin Timber Awards |
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Copenhagen Opera House
A wood panel product, medium density fibreboard (MDF) has been extensively used in Denmark’s new opera house.
The 14-storey building’s auditorium is clad with 2000 square metres of curved MDF panels finished with maple veneer.
MDF was also used to construct a free-standing acoustic wall in the main rehearsal room. The technology is advanced – precisely machined grooves and perforations in the face of the panels form an integral part of the room’s acoustic qualities. In addition, the double rows of panels move up and down automatically with some surfaces being designed to absorb sound while others bounce it back.
Photo supplied by: Nordic Timber Council |
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New Zealand Country House
Built on an old flood plain in the estuary country close to Nelson in New Zealand’s South Island, this house was voted one of the best residential designs in the 2004 NZIA-Resene awards.
The house stands on treated pine piles for protection from floods and its walls are naturally finished in silvering timber cladding. The series of decks around the building again feature substantial treated poles both for strength and performance and to underpin the architect’s original inspiration for the design – photographs of a derelict timber jetty.
Photo supplied by: Elspeth Collier |
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Law Courts Of Bordeaux
This new French court house has been described as one of the most remarkable buildings in the world but its contemporary ‘hi-tech’ architectural relies substantially on the most traditional of materials – timber.
The seven cone shaped domes which are the central focus of the building are clad with cedar boards laid in a diagonal pattern to accommodate the curvature of the dome.
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Sheffield Winter Gardens
This impressive urban greenhouse was designed so that the internal space could be optimised without the intrusion of internal supports. The architect’s solution was to develop a glue laminated (glulam) timber parabolic spanning the 22 metre width of the building.
The arch forms have been evolved from an inverted catenary to minimise bending forces under the dead loads of the glazing and so reducing the size of the glulam sections.
Photo supplied by: Martine Hamilton Knight |
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Building Bridges With Timber
There is tremendous potential to increase the amount of timber used not just in buildings, but also in outside structures and landscaping. Advanced preservation treatments give timber the durability to perform in the most arduous environments while drying and processing techniques enhance stability and strength.
A superb example is the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park Canopy Walk new Whangarei, New Zealand. Built over a significant remnant of native kauri forest, the walk incorporates a bridge running a span of 72 metres, 13 metres above ground level. The structure comprises glue laminated (glulam) beams, treated pine poles and lumber.
The award winning architect, Grant Stevens of Whangarei, says that they could have used steel but there would have been a maintenance problem in the damp atmosphere.
Photo supplied by: Wendy Bown |
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