'We' Won!

The Okanagan College Trades Renewal & Expansion Project  Awarded at BC Wood Awards Gala

John Boys on a recent informal inspection of the OK College Trades Building

We were  pleased to learn that  one of our recent projects was awarded for the BC Wood Design Awards 2018 in the category
'Institutional Wood Design: Large".

Scope of our work included survey of the as-built and installation of the glulam roof deck on glulam rafters with curved columns, the main atrium and connecting walkway consisting of gluelam columns and rafters. (all supplied by Structurlam).

Nice Work if you can get it...Our part of the work took place during the summer of 2015 in Kelowna BC. (Blue skies, lakes and nightlife on the weekends for the younger set, and a short hop over the hill back to Merritt for the family guys.) 

The final touch. Nice!

Our working agreement was with PCL (one of our preferred contractors) which made for a pleasant and productive work environment, and when the project was complete our rigging and lifting skills were requested to assist with the install of what we consider to be the "Piece de Resistance" - a beautifully restored vintage single wing aircraft. This task was undertaken by Chris Bur - who together with Andreas Fricke of Bighorn timber frame also led the glulam installation crew;  (Jesse Bird, Jochen Wagenblast, Francois Vienne, Jarett Radomski, Owen Gregory and several other much appreciated colleagues who lent their skills to the project).

Our Big Take Away? Meticulous pre-planning and site survey of the as-built has a huge payoff (as usual).
Lessons Learned: When bracing our work (level and plumb) at the end of our scope - make it difficult if not impossible for other trades to tamper with the bracing.

Engineer: Fast + Epp
The firm of  Diamond Schmitt collaborating with  David Nairne + Associates Ltd. of North Vancouver, designed the complex.

Award Winning Log Post & Beam Home

It's all about governing design features.

We are (finally) making use of the many photos collected on projects over 26 years of log and timber building! (see link to video at the end of this article).
Every home is unique and each has it's own tale to tell; this most recent video tells the story of a post and beam project that captivated us right from the beginning and remains one of our favourite projects some 8 or 10 years later.

Here is some of what we liked (and still like) about this project:

1. The governing design feature of the building was the vanishing edge pool  - so this feature dictated the layout and design of the home.
2. The land was quite vertical - which also dictated what was possible. (We believe that constraints are where creativity is born).
3. The wood specifications were very tight and highly defined. (Western red cedar with a mositure content of between 14-16%). This feature narrowed the wood to either kiln dried or dead standing wood. Dead standing was preferred for a smoother finish. Given that the builders who were being considered for the project were all of similar calibre it might have been a harder decision for the customer if it had not been for those tight wood specs - because in the end it pretty much came down to whoever came up with the wood first was likely going to land the contract....(obviously it was Nicola LogWorks who found the wood...and with a surface moisture content of 10 - 12 %!)
4. The design was the work of Tom Hahney (Designing Change - out of Washington State). Tom is a talented designer with the bonus of also being a log builder and colleague. His specifications were informed and well purposed.
5. Tom made sure that the log builders who were competing for the contract could build to the level of quality that the customer was expecting. He narrowed the field for the customer by communicating with local log builders and giving the customer a short-list of three builders to interview prior to narowing it to two candidates.  (A much appreciated courtesy to those of us bidding the building, and despite the competetive aspect of the bidding process - we much prefer to compete against colleagues who offer similar quality and services.)
6. As a final bonus, the project was an hour and a half away from Merritt BC where our production site is located. (As much as we enjoy setting up our log homes all over the world - a job in one's own back yard is much appreciated.)
7. Oh - and we liked the customer. But that pretty much goes without saying - because we try to only build for folks we like.

This post and beam log home won a Silver Tommie Award in the Kelowna Region. You can learn more about this project by following this link: "Okanagan Lake Post and Beam".

Air Tight Log Homes

The intent of the New Energy Code is all about building green, healthy homes and reducing carbon foot-print and yet one of the oldest and time tested green building systems is struggling to survive in North America.
Log building is the original green building system requiring very little energy required to transform materials into a finished home while producing very little waste and boasting huge carbon sequestration.
It's hard to get more "Green" than that!
  
So why are log builders and their customers having a hard time pulling permits for log homes these days?

 

In BC, the new energy codes go into effect December 17th 2014. You can find out when and to what extent the jurisdiction(s) that you are building in will be affected by cruising the site of your local, state or provincial building authority.

To learn more about gasketing scribed log homes - go to www.loghomegasket.com (You can also see the original cartoons of Gasket Girl by Joe Ratushniak - or better still visit his web pages (www.joecarver.com) to enjoy his primary talent of wood carving and sculpture.

A well sealed log home will have no problem passing the blower door test. We highly recommend the FP Publications book: The Illustrated Guide to Log Home Construction by Dalibor Houdek. 

And finally, to find some of the best log home builders on the planet (yes the planet)....visit the International Log Builder's Association (ILBA), and learn about Best Practices in Log Construction.

Happy Building!