Rothoblaas is the Italian manufacturer of standard and proprietary tools and connectors for timber and hybrid structures. Joy Crane discussed mass timber construction with Rothoblaas’ South African branch manager, Mark O’Connor. He believes it’s only…
In four years, The Wood App website has inspired over 8,500 South African architects, developers, designers, industry retirees, contractors and DIYers to use wood more extensively in the built environment. Dr Philip Crafford, The Wood…
Structural design considerations and testing The eighth episode of Sawmilling South Africa’s (SSA’s) Talking Timber webinar series featured the University of Pretoria’s structural engineer, Dr Johann van der Merwe, and Stellenbosch University’s wood scientist, Prof…
Architecture and engineering postgrads and professionals are increasingly questioning their roles in designing and creating environmentally friendly “green” built environments rather than brick, cement and steel construction. They are considering the carbon lifecycles of their…
Dr Schalk Grobbelaar at Pretoria University suggests applying systems thinking to develop integrated and optimised housing solutions. This is different from traditional housing design that plugs various solutions into a shell without integrating them into…
“If it weren’t for the commercial planting of trees from the early 1900s, the country’s indigenous forests would have been eliminated many years ago for our fuel, furniture and fibre needs”, asserts Roy Southey, CEO…
Neil Bassingthwaighte’s company, NB Tool Suppliers in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, is the official Leitz tools and tooling distributor and service provider in South Africa. He is a sharpening specialist with over a decade of experience maintaining…
Merensky Timber has relocated its Cape Town Depot from Transnet Park in Belville to a new, purpose-built, expansive warehouse facility in Dynamo Way, Wimbledon Estate in Blackheath. It boasts a weighbridge, a CCA timber treatment…
The mass timber market in South Africa is emerging rapidly. This month, David Marks discusses adhesives for glue-laminated (glulam) beams and cross-laminated timber (CLT). He also briefly describes the tests he conducted on locally available…
The driving force behind the development of cross-laminated timber (CLT) mass timber building systems is the need to provide alternative wood-based products and systems to architects, engineers, and contractors. There are no multi-storey mass timber…
