That was the message from an industry ‘briefing’ organised last week by Wood for Gold, the timber sector’s Olympics lobbying campaign.
Among the speakers at the London event was Dr Peter Bonfield, BRE chief executive and leader of construction projects for the Olympic Delivery Authority.
He underlined the scale of the developments; comprising 11 main sports venues, a media centre, an athletes’ village house over 17,000 people, plus associated infrastructure, including the construction of 23 bridges.
Dr Bonfield stressed that the ODA’s procurement policy “puts sustainability as high on the agenda as safety”. “And sustainability is not just environmental, it’s about social factors, health and well-being,” he said.
Against this background, chain of custody was key. “If you can’t show it, you won’t deliver,” said Dr Bonfield.
Ruth Slavid of Architects Journal said that the industry also had to guarantee to supply on time and to specification. “Certainty is what architects want; certainty that materials will arrive in the quantities ordered and that they will behave correctly.”
Given the lack of structural engineers with timber experience, she added, the onus would also be on the timber sector to provide architects with information on performance, durability and detailing”.
Wood for Gold chairman Martin Gale said the initiatives’ aim was to get timber used throughout the Olympics site. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to embed timber in construction for the future,” he said. But he warned that “if an [environmental] NGO finds one piece of dodgy plywood it will be headline news”.
