Cultural & Public, Commercial, Timber

STIDC and KIRK are sowing seeds for Sarawak's timber transformation

Sowing the seeds for Sarawak's timber transformation

Engineered timber is fast revolutionising the global building industry. Recognised for its carbon-neutral credentials, timber offers a sustainable, renewable, safe, and efficient alternative to conventional concrete and steel. Curiously, Southeast Asia has been slow to join the global timber transformation, with fewer than 1,700 mass timber projects commissioned as of December 2022. The Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) and KIRK, leading architects in engineered timer, are hoping to change this.

STIDC and KIRK are bringing together global experts in timber to speak on the immense economic opportunity of engineered timber at the International Conference on Engineered Wood Sarawak 2023 in Kuching this May 16th-17th.

KIRK is spearheading several ground-breaking timber projects in Southeast Asia including a proposed new building, conceived in partnership with Arkitek KDI, set to be the world's largest single floor timber structure if built as designed, spanning 15,500 m² under roof. Timber buildings of this scale will all but necessitate the rapid development of the local timber industry and could position Sarawak as a hub for engineered timber distribution and construction.

We’re on the precipice of a global timber revolution. Timber's remarkable sustainability credentials make it the carbon-neutral building material of the future, with countless large-scale developments in the works now in Australasia, North America and Europe. To reap the full benefits of this remarkable opportunity, Sarawak and other optimally placed regions must begin sowing the seeds for industry development now.

- Richard Kirk, Founder and Director of KIRK.

About STIDC's International Conference on Engineered Wood Sarawak 2023

KIRK's Founder and Director Richard Kirk will be presenting our timber building design expertise on Day 1 of the conference.

We have also curated a group of leading Australian engineered timber advocates as fellow speakers, including:

Peter Ayres, Managing Director of Aurecon, presenting "Mass Engineered Timber in Singapore including NTU Academic Building South Case Study"
Callum Lillywhite, Associate Structural Engineer at Aurecon, presenting "The Opportunities for Timber in Different Sectors and How to Think Timber for a Building Structure"
Rick Beardwood, Associate and Senior Building Surveyor with Certis Group, presenting "A Regulatory Perspective on Performance-based Design"
Harry Wall, senior Fire Engineer and Team Leader at Omnii, presenting "Mass Engineered Timber and Fire Engineering"

For the full list of speakers and event program, head to the Conference website.

KIRK's engineered timber expertise

KIRK is a market leader in mass engineered timber architecture. Our portfolio of projects showcases a number of ground-breaking timber designs, including:

We regularly share our timber architecture expertise with companies looking to take advantage of this growing opportunity and elevate their next building development.

For more, contact our Brisbane or Kuala Lumpur studios.

Experts in Timber

KIRK has a deep interest in researching and developing cutting-edge construction methods and material knowledge. The studio is committed to employing renewable resources and local industry on a large and meaningful scale upon selection of the construction materials.  Specifying locally-grown timber species, manufactured in Queensland demonstrated the benefits of this technology as a sustainable alternative to steel and concrete.  Local Queensland timber is central to the sustainability initiatives employed by KIRK.

View Article

Mass Engineered Timber Structures | Timber Tower

The Timber Tower is an experimental project that is the first non-residential building in Australia to use locally grown and manufactured mass engineered timber. The 5-level structure was erected in less than a month and the building, including the integrated fitout for 90 staff was completed within 7 months. It is also the first tall building to utilise CLT as the primary vertical structure. This increases the column free useable floor area with the added benefit of providing a more solid façade thereby providing a very efficient building envelope. The resulting effect of exposed timber structure, smaller intimate column free floor plates, and generous windows produces a completely new typology for the commercial office.