THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Historically wood has been used in India for various building purposes. However, its application has been largely limited to beams and posts, roofing or other parts of construction. Canadian Wood set a new trend in India of building a complete house with wood by putting forth two distinctive styles of building techniques.
These two resort style houses demonstrating Wood Frame style and Tongue & Groove style of constructions were created using Spruce-pine-fir sustainably sourced from B.C, Canada. Leading manufacturers based out of Mysore and Delhi were partnered with to create these eye-catching displays. Both the houses unique in their building styles were constantly supervised, improvised by the technical inputs provided by Canadian Wood to help create a robust and appealing proposition most apt for the hospitality sector. Especially in the south which is home to several holiday and resort destinations like Ooty, Coorg, KodaiKanal, Kotagiri and Wayanad.
The WFC (Wood Frame Construction) style of construction is one of the most widely used methods to build in North America. This technique optimises building process by helping reduce the time and cost involved in the construction process.
On the other hand, the T&G (Tongue and Groove) style of construction is a very organic and efficient way of building since the entire structure can be prefabricated in the factory from the drawing. A major advantage of this method is that every component can be pre-coated prior to leaving the factory with only a final coat to be done after construction.
Both the houses were displayed at IndiaWood 2020 in Bangalore and received an overwhelming response. Speaking about the T&G (Tongue and Groove) house displayed at IndiaWood 2020 Peter Bradfield, Technical Advisor at Canadian Wood said, “What set the exhibited T&G house apart was the laminated wall structure with double T&G which increased the wall thickness. This added to strength, stiffness, wall span and insulation values. The beauty and appeal of T&G construction in India for resort living is the all-encompassing look and feel of wood and being part of nature.”
Further to this on the WFC (Wood Frame Construction) house he added “WFC houses are adaptable to all climates, ranging from hot and humid to extremely cold climates. When well-constructed they can meet or exceed code- established levels of fire safety and sound control. The house displayed at the IndiaWood was completely factory made and designed in modules for easy transportation.”
Also available for comment was Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director with Canadian Wood who said “The hospitality industry is increasingly looking at building resorts using wood in structural applications. Also, there is an upward trend in increased usage of wood in the home category by leading architects, manufacturers, HNIs looking at villas, country homes and farmhouses as a lifestyle statement. Canadian wood on its part is doing its bit in promoting building with wood through technical support and handholding in the T&G, WFC & Post & Beam method in addition to the hybrid method of building with wood and local stone/brick besides interior and exterior use of wood in more traditional applications such as panelling, cladding, furniture (indoor & outdoor), joinery – doors & windows and pergolas/gazebos etc.” He also added that “The cedar species of Canadian wood are ideal decking and sauna.”
Each of the houses were embellished with furniture made using Western hemlock – a species of Canadian wood that is evolving into a preferred choice of furniture manufacturers in India due to its looks & workability. Also, the T&G house demonstrated Doors, Door Frames in Yellow Cedar which is a high-quality substitute wood in lieu of UPVC windows that cancel out noise, dust and water. To present each of the creations in their best form, different established furniture manufacturers were reached out to from across India.
