A large part of the NEC during Interbuild, appropriately enough, will be a building site.
The show this year, from April 25-29, is teaming up with Manufacturing the Future organisation and the Rethinking Construction initiative to present a “Manufactured Solutions” section focusing on the latest offsite construction products and systems.
The theme, say the Interbuild organisers, marries with the government-spurred trend towards ‘sustainable’ rapid-build housing. It also ties in with the principles of the Egan report on improving construction efficiency and surmounting the UK’s growing shortage of traditional building site skills.
More than 40 companies are involved in this show within a show, many of them taking the opportunity to build whole structures. The timber frame and wood-panel modular specialists are strongly represented. Among them is Wyckham Blackwell which will build a single storey timber frame house. The company will also demonstrate Wolf System’s new Smartroof system. This comprises pre-fabricated, insulated, interlocking roof panels designed to allow “100% use of roof space” and to achieve weather-tightness in one day.
“We’ve taken a number of construction projects to fine tune the system and now we are ready for a major push at Interbuild,” said Smartroof sales manager David Himmons.
Another exhibitor and Interbuild builder is Robertson Timberkit, the Scots-based timber frame specialist that recently opened a new plant in Co Durham. The company will be constructing a 10×5.5m two-storey house with cut-away sections enabling architects and specifiers to see how the technology and finishing systems work and how they create “the biggest challenge to traditional build in the UK”.
Wood panel construction specialist Murus Building Systems, which started last year, will use Manufacturing Solutions as its official launch to the construction and architectural sectors. In particular it will highlight the insulating properties of its panel systems, which can be used to create buildings up to six storeys, describing the whole concept as a “radiator eliminator”.
“The new Building Regulations calling for increased insulation or ‘U’ values mean it is more difficult to comply using brick/block construction,” said Murus founder David Bateman. “With Murus’ cellulose-based insulation the buildings require no heating.”
Manufacturing Solutions will also include a series of seminars and on April 26, the event will feature the launch of a new industry body for off-site construction.
On the trail of energy efficiency
Across the rest of Interbuild there will be about 1,200 exhibitors and, highlighting the building industry’s now near obsession with sustainability, there will be an Energy Efficiency Trail around the halls, enabling visitors to “quickly identify environmentally friendly products”.
No doubt one of those on the trail will be Finnforest‘s stand, which will be based on Kerto LVL, with the floor and roof made in Finnjoists I-beams and cladding in Finnforest Thermowood which it is marketing as “a serious alternative to cedar”.
The Canadians are playing the environmental card strongly too. Their 400m2 stand will house more than 30 companies, with key features including ultra energy efficient Super E timber housing, high performance timber windows and new wood based insulation.
Among the many companies using Interbuild to debut latest joinery products will be Chindwell, with new designs in its range of FSC-certified hardwood doors, and US-based window giant Andersen, which will be showing its “new generation” Woodright sliding sash window made in Fibrex, a reclaimed pine fibre and thermoplastic polymer composite.
Meanwhile French wood and wood/aluminium window producer Bieber is using Interbuild as its first major stepping stone into the UK. “Until we were involved in a project in Hertfordshire recently, we hadn’t really considered working in the UK,” said export director Christophe Bieber.
Another key feature of the exhibition will be the ITShowcase Zone highlighting new construction software. Among the launches will be Eleco‘s Whole House Engineering module, an add-on to its AutoCAD-based timber frame and floor systems. The software enables timber frame designers to generate structural and engineering calculations at design stage.
Wood processing machinery will also have a presence, with JJ Smith exhibiting its new Anglemaster saw for straight and angled cutting timber frame panel components. The machine incorporates off-line importing from software, pre-optimising and downloading to the saw and the facility to mark top and bottom plates with stud positions.
Wood flooring will also feature strongly, with a ‘Flooring Demonstration Zone’ enabling suppliers, including British Hardwoods, to put on installation and design displays.
And over 100 of the product launches (including Smartroof) were entered in Interbuild’s inaugural “New Products Awards” competition. The winners will be announced at a dinner on April 26.
