Dr John Bellamy of Timber Engineering Systems Ltd
Congratulations on your decision to publish four large photographs and an article describing the new European Union Food and Veterinary Office at Dunsany in Ireland. The use of so much timber on the inside is superb but it is the timber external cladding which for me gives the building a ‘wow’ factor.
What makes the building particularly memorable for me is that my client Wyckham Blackwell Timber Engineering and I are just finishing the design, manufacture and supply of external timber cladding to an extension to Milton Keynes College.
This building which appears to be of similar size to that at Dunsany involved developing a system of prefabricated insulated panels, factory clad on both sides and using a special adjustable system for hidden fixing to the steel frame to cope with large dimensional tolerances.
We hope that the students and staff who will use the building will appreciate the timber inside and out and will encourage its use on other buildings.
From the point of view of the timber trade, external timber cladding to buildings requires large quantities of sawn timber and panel products, certainly far more than if the cladding was traditional masonry or glass in steel or aluminum frames!
The buildings at Dunsany and Milton Keynes have demonstrated that external timber cladding is a practical proposition which meets architectural requirements for appearance; what is now needed is publicity so that building developers and their architects are aware that there are firms within the timber industry who can design and supply purpose made panel systems. No longer does specifying timber cladding necessitate nailing T&G boarding to the outside of a concrete block wall.
