An innovative timber construction system being developed in Wales, in the UK could revolutionise the building sector and open up major new markets for farm grown wood. Source: Farm Guardian
Work is about to start on the first project using the new process — breaking the traditional belief that UK timber is not of high enough quality for construction use.
The dowelled timber system has been developed for Welsh conditions using local timber by Woodknowledge Wales, working in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, Pontrilas Timber and Williams Homes of Bala.
The locally made solid wood panelised process is being used for the first time in the Coed y Brenin forest visitor centre at Dolgellau, North Wales.
Based on Brettstapel, a method for laminating timber into large structural panels, the system could open up new markets for several species of UK-grown softwoods, including Douglas fir, Grand fir, Sitka spruce and larch, and provide timber processors with new opportunities for adding value to products.
Poor perceptions of the strength and stability of home grown conifers have hindered development of value added products but Woodknowledge Wales has just spent 18 months researching how they could be better used.
“Turning our timber into readily usable structural systems at reasonable cost has been the Holy Grail of the Welsh timber sector,” said Dainis Dauksta,of Woodknowledge Wales, the research initiative that is part of the Forestry Commission Wales-funded Wales Forest Business Partnership.
“We studied a plethora of research work already carried out across the UK and Europe and chose Douglas fir and Grand fir for their stability.”
He ran small-scale trials in the kiln at his workshop near Builth Wells, optimising cutting and drying of Douglas fir for panel production, which demands lower moisture content than normal.
Last week the first batch of Douglas fir was commercially dried down to around 12% moisture content and delivered from Pontrilas Timber to Williams Homes who are manufacturing and then erecting the new panels at Coed y Brenin.
“The outbreak of phytophthora has decimated larch across Wales and foresters are anxious to find a replacement species. By proving a new way of using Douglas fir in construction we are reinforcing the rationale for using this versatile tree as the next crop,” said Dauksta. “The new system benefits both the Welsh economy and Welsh forests.”
