Here at Naikoon, we’re celebrating the New Year with groundbreaking glueing technology called TS3! We flew in experts René Wicki and Marcel Herzog from Europe to run a course for five members of our team and 11 other professionals. While René and Marcel were here, they also helped us install the stairs at our new office which is the first project in North America to use TS3 technology!
Naikoon’s TS3 course
In the first week of January, TS3 ran an intensive course for 16 TS3 trainees including five Naikoon employees: Site Foreman Mike Chan, Construction Manager Shawn Barr, Construction Manager Lucas Zoeller, Site Foreman David Ritchie, and Speciality Carpenter Jan Toren. The training was headed up by René and Marcel who came all the way from Switzerland! At the session, we hosted several top architects and structural engineers, including Aspect Structural engineers, Studio 531 Architects and Open Space. We also had some of BC’s top timber framers, such as Styxworks, Nicola Logworks, and Kinsol.
The whole day was led by René and Marcel from TS3 (Timber Structures 3.0). Marcel did the theory presentation which included information about the research and development that led to TS3. Then he went through the TS3 process itself. René did a practical demonstration before having the team members practice the technique themselves, preparing the wood and pumped glue to connect the joints.
After completing the training, our team members were certified for TS3. Congratulations Mike, Shawn, Lucas, David, and Jan!
How we’re using TS3 technology at Naikoon’s new head office
We’re excited to be bring TS3 technology home with us! Our new Naikoon head office features a staircase, which is the first project in North America to use TS3 technology! While they were here from Switzerland, René and Marcel installed our staircase. They glued together the pieces, assembled the staircase, and then installed it – after the pieces had enough time to dry, of course. It was thrilling to see TS3 in action – and we can’t wait to offer this technology to our clients!
Why are we investing so much in TS3 technology? Well, we think that building with mass timber is the way of the future. To best support our clients – and protect our planet – we want to do everything we can to expand our expertise in mass timber and passive house construction.
We love learning from, and getting inspired by, companies from all over the world. Switzerland, Austria and Germany have some of top experts when it comes to mass timber and passive house construction – and we want to learn from the best of the best.
A huge thank you to Bernard from ASPECT Engineers, Stefan from Timbatec, Marcel and René from TS3, Jens from Styxworks, Sebastian from KLH and Jesse from Studio 531 Architects Inc. who made our CLT staircase dreams come true!
About KLH Austria and their Cross-Laminated Timber:
All the CLT panels that we used for our staircase have been manufactured by KLH in Austria and then shipped to us. KLH pioneered the manufacture of Cross-Laminated Timber and have developed the product in cooperation with the Technical University of Graz in 1996. After many years of research and development, KLH opened their production facility in Teufenbach – Katsch (Austria) in 1999 and have gradually extended it.
While being a traditional Austrian family business with a history of more than 250 years, KLH operates internationally which is why their large-format KLH solid timber boards are not just used in Europe, but all across the globe as wall, ceiling and roof elements in structural timber construction. KLH is using technically dried timber with a wood humidity of 12% (+/- 2%) for the manufacture of KLH solid timber boards which s are regarded CE certified building materials. The raw slats used are sourced from sustainable forestry and are either PEFC or FSC certified. Check out their website and learn more about the company and their amazing products! They also have a US subsidiary based in Portland, OR offering design, coordination and supply services.
