Summary
• Timber Expo takes place at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on September 27 & 28.
• More than 100 exhibitors will take part.
• The 2011 Wood Awards winners will be revealed on the first day.
• TRADA’s In Touch with Timber conference will be a highlight.
New means exciting and different and that is what Timber Expo promises to be. After months of build-up and planning, the inaugural event is fast approaching and it’s creating a real buzz in the market.
For the first time ever, Timber Expo has harnessed the collective power of the timber industry to bring together under one roof forward-thinking suppliers, commentators and business leaders, linking suppliers with specifiers and end users. It will create a showcase for timber as you have never seen it before, through a dynamic combination of exhibits, tutorials, seminars, conferences, awards, buyer forums and networking events.
More than 100 exhibitors have pledged their support and sponsorship, including leading industry associations such as major sponsors The American Hardwood Export Council, Gold sponsors Wood for Good and the WWF’s Global Forest Trade Network. Platinum sponsors are International Timber and sister company Pasquill Timber Engineering.
Central to International Timber’s operating ethos is sustainability. It has been driving the use of sustainable timber in the construction industry, underpinning one of the underlying themes of Timber Expo. Combined with innovation, timber’s environmental credentials will ensure that it claims a special place in the built environment of the future.
Snapshots of what is in store include the two specially built seminar theatres, one designed by the UK SIP Association using SIPs technology, mirrored by the Timber Talk theatre designed by Frame Wise to demonstrate advances in timber frame technology. Both will offer free hourly seminars throughout the show, as will TRADA with a programme of Timber Tutorials. Furthermore, many of the exhibitors are staging presentations on specialist topics – check the schedule on arrival for the latest information and timings. And, of course, TRADA’s flagship In Touch with Timber conference (see p25) is now an integral part of Timber Expo, with 1,000 delegate places being catered for.
The TRADA stand will not go unnoticed – Price & Myers is reconstructing its Hy-Pavilion, a 360 degree stage which will – literally – provide the perfect platform for TRADA to deliver its messages to specifiers.
Exhibitors, too, will demonstrate how timber has grown in stature as you tour the Jaguar exhibition halls at the Ricoh Arena. With the advent of new, engineered wood products, timber can now compete with steel and concrete frame, and used alone or in conjunction with other materials, it can inspire truly outstanding design, as demonstrated by Core Structures.
And, as an integral part of the show, the many beautiful shortlisted entries for the Wood Awards 2011 will be on display in the atrium. Enjoy the originality of design and be further inspired by the creativity and imagination of fellow architects, engineers and designers. The winners will be unveiled at a lunchtime ceremony on the first day.
Developments are taking place in other areas, too. The shape of the industry in the UK is changing, with new entrants into the sectors pitched between the traditional supplier and the contractor. These specialist timber sub-contractors, such as Gold sponsor B&K Structures, are taking the natural material and designing engineered timber systems, with the many added advantages offered by offsite construction.
By popular demand a Timber Engineers Hub has also been added to the show, permitting leading design and engineering organisations to demonstrate how they are embracing and innovating with timber technology.
Also unique to Timber Expo is the Timber Buyers Forum, a highly effective way to bring together buyers – including architects and specifiers – and exhibitors to explore how to fulfil immediate project or longer-term strategic needs. Buyers participating include Asda, Balfour Beatty Construction, BAM Construct UK, Galliford Try, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Mace, Morgan Sindall, Sir Robert McAlpine, Shaylor, Tesco, Vinci, Willmott Dixon and Wolseley, with interest in timber for retail, education, commercial and major structural developments – but specifiers are invited to sign up too.
We are aiming to attract more than 5,000 visitors over the two days of the show – providing an opportunity for dialogue, for networking, for business, for learning and for inspiration. We believe that it is set to become a key event in the construction calendar and can promise you that your journey to Coventry will be time wisely invested.
For more details visit www.timber-expo.co.uk.
