G&T hosted a discussion on the capacity of the market as part of the ongoing mass timber office series that brings together experts to discuss and debate barriers to the uptake of mass timber in commercial office construction.
The sixth session was on the subject of capacity and supply chain. The panel was made up of six external experts from some of Europe’s largest suppliers and manufacturers of mass timber solutions, as well as experts from leading sub-contractors and supply chain partners that have been working in the UK for a number of years. Collectively they are responsible for completing the design, engineering, manufacture, transport and installation of many of the UK’s mass timber and hybrid buildings.
The expert panel included Greg Cooper managing director at William Hare, Wayne Probert head of sales at Binderholz, Gareth Mason sales director of Stora Enso and Andrew Goodwin managing director of BKS, as well as both Nick Clark managing director of KLH and Mark Berridge regional director at HESS/Hasslacher.
The panel gave their views and insights into a variety of topics falling under the following key areas:
• Forestry
• Procurement, Manufacturing and Delivery
• Construction
• End of Life
• The Future
At the start of the event the group introduced the different mass timber products explaining about the separate materials and structures of each - including CLT, Glulam and LVL.
Not only did the group answer questions about the current and future scale and capacity of the mass timber supply across Europe, they also explained to the forum audience the projected growth of the European forestry and how it will be able to keep up with future demand sustainably.
“Forestry stock in Europe has actually increased by 10% since 1990 because more trees are being planted than felled”
The group went on to discuss the different types of timber certification and how these can affect the chain of custody for the product. They also discussed when it is best to get the suppliers involved in the project in order to maximise the time savings on the programme.
In a live audience poll - 95% responded that they had engaged with supplier and sub-contractors at the early stages of their projects.
When asked about the impact of Brexit, the panel unanimously agreed that mass timber is the same as many other materials and although there could be a slight delay with deliveries due to increased paperwork, this challenge can be overcome by being proactive and factoring it into the programme from the start of the project.
Looking to the future of the mass timber market the panel anticipated an increase in demand for timber, which could lead to advances in off-site technology and a greater ability to test products through live project data collection.
G&T launched the Mass Timber Office forum to bring together experts from across the industry to discuss and debate the barriers of using mass timber in office construction. Hosted by partners Matt Holman and Oliver Booth, these forums focus on hot topics such as Insurance, Fire and Sustainability, to help share knowledge and information that can be referred to when considering mass timber for commercial office projects.
For more information about the Mass Timber Office Forum or for access to the full report from the Capacity and Supply Chain panel please contact the team at masstimber@gardiner.com
