South Africa’s Timber Connections are growing

The highly anticipated second Timber Construction Conference again showed that “growing timber connections” involves human relationships, supply chain strength, environmental stewardship, economic sustainability and trans disciplinary collaboration across knowledge domains.

The 230-strong enthusiastic group of architects, engineers, academics, sawmilling and wood processing professionals, government officials and stakeholders explored the theme “Growing Timber Connections” during the proceedings and actively put it into practice during breaks.

The event was held at the University of Pretoria (UP’s) Future Africa conference centre and sponsored by York Timbers. It was organised by Dr Schalk Grobbelaar from UP’s Graduate School of Technology Management with support of the Pretoria Institute for Architecture (PIA), UP’s Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (EBIT), and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic).

CHANGE-MAKERS

Samantha Choles presided over the event. First up was Donette Werkman, President of the Pretoria Institute for Architecture, who gave amusing anecdotes on architects’ perceptions of engineers and the role of artificial intelligence (AI). “Architects not using AI will be replaced”, she warned, demonstrating its ‘usefulness’ in writing poems and ‘good, bad jokes’ about engineers.

Jokes aside, Donette’s message was clear, “If we strive to be change-makers, we need to collaborate. It is not an option; it is the key ingredient to success,” she said, “This event demonstrates what can happen when disciplines collaborate It is an incredible time to be alive as a professional in the built environment”.

ARCHITECTURE

Nicola Smuts, an architecture student at UP, discussed using visual programming language to transfer and optimise structural principles from the biological world to the structural performance of architecture.

Thutho Vilakazi of dhk Architects spoke passionately about how the insights he received while participating in the timber design and construction short course with Raw Modular elevated his awareness and knowledge of incorporating wood in architectural designs.

MARKETING

B.Com marketing management student Ramaano Ramapela also South Africa’s timber connections are growing completed the Raw Modular programme. It made him realise there is much more to wood than fuel for a cooking fire. It made him reconsider his perception of wood and led him to wonder how to change public perceptions of wood.

Chrisna du Plessis, a research professor and former head of UP’s Department of Architecture, led the group discussion between Bakang Moeng of the Green Building Council of SA, Richard Fergusson of the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sindi Kwenaite of the SA Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions.

The session discussed the move to green building claims and labels and the need to inform the construction industry about timber. “Not all wood is created equal”, Richard commented. “Think about what claims you want to make about your projects”. He discussed the FSC’s labels and pointed out that if timber in a construction project is from an FSC-certified source, the project can claim FSC Project Management accreditation.

Before Ronald Heath of Forestry SA chaired the next session, Dave Marks of Marks Engineering Works (Mewa) described his experiences designing and constructing the unique Greenpoint Educational Dome in Cape Town.

“Arrogance blinds the path to learning”, he remarked, emphasising the need for engineers and architects to know the basics of science and mathematics instead of just relying on design software. “Teach your customers and defend timber engineering” was David’s passing shot.

TIMBER RESOURCES

Ronald informed the audience about SA’s sustainably managed commercial plantation resources. He spoke about water and environmental stewardship and forestry genomics enable tree breeders to produce hybrids and seeds with the necessary survival and ood quality characteristics.

INVESTMENT

Seasoned forester Mike Howard advises New Forests and its African Forestry Impact Platform on expanding its portfolio of plantation forestry operating companies. It is focused on impact investing through developing markets investing with a focus on climate, socio-economic development and import substitution through timber sales with carbon credits. He mentioned that resin tapping could increase the financial profitability of pine stands by providing an annual income to the owner.

PROPERTY DEVELOPERS

A neglected arena for growing market appetite for timber in construction is property developers. Louis van der Watt, the Group CEO and Co-Founder of Atterbury described the events that sparked the launch of Atterbury as a small development company in 1994. It rapidly grew its footprint in South Africa and Eastern Europe. He spoke about entrepreneurship in SA, saying, “The best time to invest is the next two to three years”.

Louis said timber must be marketed better. “Architects must explain it to developers. Spend money on marketing timber and market it to people correctly”.

MASS TIMBER

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) and mass timber were next under the microscope. Braam de Villiers of Earthworld Architects compered the session with speakers Jamie Smily of XLam, Marcus van der Hoven of Mass Timber Technologies and Christian Hess of Holzbau Hess.

An architect, Jamie established the first CLT factory in Africa in 2016 and has since completed nearly 80 buildings. He also worked with researchers at Stellenbosch University to develop fire ratings and the national standard for CLT.

Jamie described the advantages of hardwoods like eucalyptus over pine and other softwoods and said hybrid structures that combine steel and timber are great building systems.

Marcus co-founded MTT, the second manufacturer of mass timber in Africa. The company recently completed prefabricating a four-storey mass timber building that was flat-packed and trucked up to Chei Chei in Zanzibar. Marcus said that detailing and costs are challenging but can be solved with hybrid structures.

Christian Hess believes the professional team must know timber and should work together to complete the planning and preparation for the entire building before manufacturing begins. He incorporates free-form 3D beams and trusses in his designs. He has an impressive portfolio of work in Namibia and elsewhere.

SCIENCE AND SAWMILLS

Prof Brand Wessels of Stellenbosch University used international headlines to show that mass timber construction is set to become mainstream in other countries. He supported Jamie’s discussion on the advantages of eucalyptus for CLT but said it does come with challenges. His department continues extensive research into timber treatment, eucalyptus and laminating systems.

Deon Breytenbach presented an overview of Merensky Timber’s sawmills and how logs are transformed into timber. He painted a picture of a fragmented industry waiting for the economy and construction industry to recover. “We need gatherings like this conference to share information and ways of increasing timber consumption”. Oscar Taite, the General Manager of Processing at York Timbers, described how plywood is made. York is the largest plywood manufacturer in SA and exports 30% of its production.

ARCHITECTS AND HOMES

Werner Slabbert of the Green Block Group is immersed in timber-frame building. Unlike mass timber, timber-frame buildings, or “stick frame”, are built on-site rather than prefabricated. He urged the delegates to “stop talking, start doing” and suggested starting with luxury timber home developments.

Tafadzwa Nyanzunda of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) informed the audience that the timber marketing strategy of the Master Plan for the Commercial Forestry Sector includes timber frame construction.

Well-known architect Jacques Cronje described his journey with timber frame and log home buildings. He agreed the timber and steel work well together and presented an example of a hybrid home with steel columns and concrete blocks in Cape Town.

SEMIGRATION AND STEEP SLOPES

Suléne Brand of the Quantity Surveyors Board said the impact of semigration in the George area in the Southern Cape has resulted in a shortage and sharp increase in land and building costs. She said clients are forced to build smaller houses and are investigating alternative options. The QSB is experiencing increased requests for cost comparisons between brick and timber housing.

The main advantages of opting for a timber home are timewise, it is a shorter build period, materials can be purchased in one load without being impacted by increases, earthworks, foundations, and floors are easier to construct and more cost-effective, and it is ideal for steep slopes.

Jacques agreed with Suléne that, at a rough estimate, R300/m2 can be saved over brick and mortar when building with timber on a steep slope.

GET READY FOR 2025

Chris Roth of the SA Institution of Civil Engineering thanked everyone and announced that the next Growing Timber Connections colloquium and conference dates are 8 – 9 September 2025.

Source: WoodBiz / SA Forestry – August 2024 Newsletter (Pages 30 – 32)

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