Discovering the the timber renaissance
In early August, I was lucky enough to travel to Quebec, Canada, along with seven other Australian engineering students to attend the World Conference on Timber Engineering. Like many of the other students, before attending the conference I had very limited experience with timber. However, during the five days of the conference, I learned what timber is truly capable of as a material both structurally and aesthetically.
On the first day of the conference, we attended a tour of timber structures in the local Quebec area. Some of the buildings we visited included an indoor Canadian football training ground at Universite Laval with timber arches spanning over 60 metres, and a local BMR hardware store which builds all of its stores using a simple and yet elegant design. Although I had seen pictures of structures like these in lectures at university, seeing them in real life was a completely different experience. Instead of seeing the structures from an academic perspective, being able to walk through the buildings and talk to the engineers and architects that designed them really brought the structures to life, and opened up my eyes to the potential of timber construction.
The indoor football training field at Universite Laval
On the second day of the conference, the formal proceedings began. After being left somewhat awestruck by the tour the day before and hungry for more, the technical sessions provided an opportunity to learn about what is taking place at the cutting edge of timber engineering and fill this hunger. Hearing some of the brilliant ideas being discussed was just as inspiring as the tour the previous day. As many of the students attending the conference were conducting research on timber or were about to commence research, the technical lectures were an excellent way to learn how the best in the field do research, and to learn what still needs to be developed.
While I learnt a lot from the technical presentations, by far the most rewarding and enriching part of the conference was being able to meet and talk to some of the best engineers in the field. Talking to the veterans of the profession about the state of timber engineering in different countries around the world really puts the Australian timber engineering industry into perspective. While it may be easy to look enviously at the use of timber in Canada and Europe, they are the superpowers of timber engineering. Through events such as the World Conference on Timber Engineering, the industry is able to share, disperse, and create ideas for the benefit of everyone, including Australia.
The World Conference on Timber Engineering this year had the theme of "Renaissance". While timber construction has been popular in the past, it fell out of favour to the use of steel and concrete. As evidenced by some of the truly spectacular projects recently completed and currently under construction, the industry truly is currently undergoing a modern renaissance. However, as one of the keynote speakers at the conference said, this renaissance is not possible without its champions. There are the global champions who many of us have heard of such as Michael Green, but there are also the everyday champions who are quietly supporting the timber industry however they can. From big projects to small ones, it is often far too easy to simply maintain the status quo of using steel and concrete. However, for engineers, architects, and clients who are willing to challenge this status quo, there are great rewards available. We are both lucky and privileged to be in a position where we can participate in this timber renaissance. It truly has the potential to be a tipping point in the building construction industry, and I for one am looking forward to participating in the timber renaissance in the future.