AHO contributes to the World Conference on Timber Engineering

World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2023) is the world's most prestigious international scientific conference in the field of timber technology for construction, timber structures, and the design of timber architecture. AHO is the host institution together with NMBU, NTNU and Oslo municipality.

Four papers from AHO will be presented

Scientific staff from the Department of Architecture and the Department of Design at AHO have been selected to present four articles at WCTE 2023. More than 800 abstracts were submitted for triple peer rewiewing. AHO’s papers are distributed among several of the conference’s tracks and topics.
 
These papers from AHO will be presented:

• Ute Groba (AHO) and Samuel Blumer (sBlumer GmbH): "Re:Source Pavilion – Exploring the Circular Use of Wooden Building Materials."
• Ute Groba (AHO), Anders Q. Nyrud (NMBU) and Kaja A. Heltorp (NMBU): "Circular Wood Construction – Expectations, Experiences and Acceptance Among Users, Architects and Industry Representatives."
• Marius Nygaard (AHO) and Kjetil Nordby (AHO): "A Design Framework for Timber Building Systems."
• Colm O’Brien (AHO) and the First-year teaching team Spring 2022 (AHO): "6x6x6: Introducing the Concept of Reuse of Timber Materials in the 1st year of Architectural Education."
• Ona Flindall (former participant and project employee in “Wood be better”): “Hasle Tre: Norway´s First Timber Office Building Designed for Disassembly and Reuse.” 

All the authors from the Institute of Architecture are previous participants in the large, RCN-funded research project "Wood Be Better" (WBB). The primary aim of the project was to produce and publish knowledge which may facilitate increased use of timber in urban areas. The WBB project initiated AHO’s participation in the successful 2018 application for arranging the WCTE conference in Oslo.

Timber pavilion at the Oslo Central Station

During the master studio «Re:Source Pavilion», in fall 2022, AHO students developed several concepts for reuse of timber materials. The solutions were applied in three proposals for a pavilion to be built on the square in front of the Oslo Central Station.
 
The organizers of WCTE initiated the pavilion project as a side project to the conference. A revised version of the the winning proposal "Fletning" will be completed by the opening of the conference. The project won the AHO WORKS AWARD for timber architecture in December 2022.

Opening of exhibition of student projects

Principal Irene Alma Lønne opens the exhibition of student projects in wood in the building hall at AHO. The student projects from "Re:Source Pavilion" and "Oslo Løa" will be exhibited again at AHO during the WCTE conference.
 
Read more about the opening here.