Growing Timber Construction in South Africa
The Forest Stewardship Council Southern Africa’s Sub-Regional Coordinator, Richard Fergusson and Marketing Manager Gerard Busse, attended and exhibited at The Timber Construction Conference on the 10th September at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa Campus, Pretoria, South Africa.
This is an annual event organised by the University of Pretoria in partnership with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the Pretoria Institute for Architecture (PIA), and York Timbers. The event features knowledge-sharing and networking sessions with exhibitions by industry leaders.
Preceding the Conference on Monday 9 September was the Timber Colloquium and the Timber Design Awards.
The Timber Construction Colloquium, held from 8:30am to 3pm is an event aimed at enabling discussions and collaborations related to research and education on the promotion of timber construction. The research and education is multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary in nature. The intention is to foster collaboration between academia, industry and government. The colloquium is also an ideal opportunity for prospective researchers to gain a broad overview of research in this field. The presentation were truly inspirational, and indeed multi-disciplinary and included research and topics on structural timber engineering, timber architecture, forest science and marketing communications on the benefits of building in timber.
The Timber Design Competition Awards was held that evening. The competition is open to all registered students from SACAP-accredited schools of architecture or similar national professional accreditation bodies. The designs were evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges from industry. The project brief was a to design a new home for the Forestry and Biotechnology Institute (FABI). Student were urged to showcase their ability to create eco-friendly designs that are both beautiful and functional. Students could enter the competition either as individuals or as a team with a maximum of 3 members in a team. Students in final year or post-graduate studies were encouraged to enter the competition. The prize money was R50 000. The winning entry was from the student team from Nelson Mandela University.
The Timber Construction Conference held focused on industry, academic and professional knowledge sharing. Speakers included FSC, leading architects, engineers, sawmilling companies, engineered wood product companies, finance institutions, architectural students and marketing students. FSC and a number of other organizations were able to exhibit, which presented a useful networking opportunity.
The convenor of the Timber Construction Conference and Colloquium Dr Schalk Grobbelaar, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering & Technology Management and Chairperson of the York Timbers Chair in Wood Structural Engineering shares the vision behind the Conference: “We aim to uncover the remarkable benefits of timber as a construction material, from its sustainability and versatility to its aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency. Together, let us shape the future of sustainable building practices in South Africa.”
For more information: https://www.growingtimberconnections.com/home/timber-construction-conference/