The North East will
celebrate everything built with wood as the first WoodFest comes to Newcastle
in December, with an exciting line-up of events organised by the UK timber
industry’s campaign, Wood for Good.
WoodFest Newcastle
will bring together architects, engineers, placemakers, planners, developers,
contractors, politicians and local businesses specialising in timber to promote
the innovative and striking ways that wood can be used in the built environment
in the North East.
Christiane Lellig,
Wood for Good campaign director, said: “The first in a series of regional
WoodFests, this as a fantastic opportunity to bring all those involved with the
built environment to explore what industry and politics can achieve together.
“Each event is a
chance to learn and share about the use of timber in architecture, particularly
around health and wellbeing and offsite construction. It provides a platform to
discover what’s happening in the region and to be inspired by timber design.”
The week begins with a
behind-the-scenes tour of wood-based materials manufacturer, Egger’s site in
Hexham on 10 December. In the evening, Dr Oliver G.F. Jones, architecture
professor and expert in human-environment interaction at Northumbria
University, will give the keynote speech at a seminar on wellbeing, residential
design and healthy homes. Taking place at Ryder Architecture’s home in Cooper’s
Studios, Westgate Road, Newcastle, Dr Jones will be joined by a panel of
experts including local housing providers and design professionals to explore
biophilic design, light, space and air quality among other issues.
Offsite construction
steals the show on 12 December with an evening seminar debating whether modern
methods of construction are the future for homes in the North East. Hosted by
Ryder at Cooper’s Studios, an expert panel will explore Home England’s strategic
plan incorporating offsite construction and will ask if it’s the silver bullet
to deliver much-needed homes.
A site visit to the
unique self-build home, Shawm House, takes place on 11 December. Designed by
Newcastle-based MawsonKerr Architects, the timber home won four regional RIBA
awards, a national RIBA award and was shortlisted for Grand Designs ‘House of the
Year’ in 2017. This is a rare opportunity to hear the homeowner’s story and
experience the house for yourself.
Taking place
throughout the week is an exhibition at Cooper’s Studios, exploring healthy
buildings and driving the design and construction quality agenda through the
use of modern methods of construction.
The finale for
WoodFest Newcastle is the Superwood Conference on Friday 14 December at
Northumbria University, hosted by Confor. Looking at how forestry and timber
can drive a low carbon economy, the conversation will explore the opportunities
for increasing forestry in the North East and the lessons that can be learned
from Scotland.
Speakers include Paul
Brennan, MEP for the North East, Adam James from Ryder Architecture, Councillor
Peter Jackson, leader of Northumberland County Council, Dr Dan Ridley-Ellis
from Edinburgh Napier University, Beccy Speight from the Woodland Trust, Neil
Sutherland from Makar, Stuart Goodall from Confor, Simon Hart from Egger
Forestry and Christiane Lellig from Wood for Good.
WoodFest Newcastle is
organised in collaboration with regional partners Constructing Excellence,
Egger, Mawson Kerr, RIBA North East, and Ryder Architecture.
Book your place for
the WoodFest Newcastle events here: https://woodforgood.com/index/woodfest-newcastle/
More information will
be released soon about other regional WoodFests taking place throughout the
country in 2019.
