{"id":19955,"date":"2024-08-19T11:47:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T01:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=19955"},"modified":"2024-10-21T20:17:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:17:26","slug":"singapores-timber-building-of-the-future-has-mould-dont-panic-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/singapores-timber-building-of-the-future-has-mould-dont-panic-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore’s Timber Building of the Future has Mould: Don’t Panic Yet!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. That is the takeaway from Asia’s mass timber pioneer in response to fresh concerns that Singapore’s Gaia – Asia’s largest mass timber building <\/a>has a mould problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes as Bloomberg reports that the mouldy problem <\/a>with Nanyang Technological University’s US $94 million building, dubbed the Wooden Building of the Future, <\/em>is due to the Austrian spruce’s reaction to the country’s tropical environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Bloomberg, the problem is that Austrian spruce is less mould-resistant than other wood species. Andrew Wong of the International Wood Culture Society adds that untreated spruce is particularly prone to mould and rot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s essentially a climate issue,” Mr Wong told Bloomberg. <\/a>We’re in the tropics, which demands special care.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gaia
 Mr Seah Chee Kien, Project Qualified Person, Senior Managing Director, RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, Ms Jennie Chua, Pro-Chancellor, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education, Prof Ho Teck Hua, NTU President, Ms Goh Swee Chen, Chair, NTU Board of Trustees, and Mr Toyo Ito, Design Architect of Project Gaia, President, Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, at the launch of Gaia last year.<\/em>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, Kevin Hill, considered the pioneer in bringing cross-laminated timber and glulam to Singapore, said it is still far too early to draw conclusions into using different European timber species in tropical climates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have not witnessed this problem before; no one has bothered to check (the 20) other buildings (in Singapore which have used mass timber). There is no discussion over the coatings and surface treatment, (but) only over the spruce product.”<\/p>Kevin Hill, founder and managing director of Venturer Timberwork, the pioneer of mass timber in the Singaporean market. <\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr Hill, who, through his company Venturer Timberwork, was invited to tender for but was not involved in the project, said one of the critical factors was disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Covid had a huge delay mid-project, (with the) product likely sitting for many months undercover, (and therefore) exposed to high ambient moisture, which potentially locked in mound spores pre-coating.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I hope (the Bloomberg article’s) inaccurate reflection on mass timber in our climate is taken with a pinch of salt,” Mr Hill said, adding that “there are many other buildings (including the <\/a>Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery)<\/a> that have worked out really, really well.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n