ZETE – Zak Engineered Timber Envelopes

Zak Engineered Timber Envelopes is an offshoot from the stable of the Zak World of Façades conference series.


The 1st edition of this one-day conference will discuss and debate the latest innovations and challenges in the mass timber industry pertaining to the building envelope and will also host an exclusive exhibit area featuring leading solution providers.

Speakers and Panelists
Director, Ramboll
Alan leads Ramboll’s Timber design innovations and has over 15 years’ experience as a structural engineer, working in a wide range of sectors across the UK and Europe. He has worked on over 100 timber buildings and leads Ramboll’s International...
Associate, BDP
Julia is the BDP façade lead on the KGX1 project. She has a keen interest in environmental issues and is part of the BDP sustainability champions group. She studied in Germany, Australia, France and the UK. She has an MSc...
Director of Workspace - EMEA, Google
Andrew joined Google’s real estate team in May 2014 and is based in London. He leads a team that is responsible for the design and delivery of capital projects and has a particular focus on KGX1, the ground up construction...
Partner, Bjarke Ingels Group
Andy Young joined BIG in 2016 as Technical Director of the London office, in 2021 he became Partner. He has over 25 years experience in the design and construction of large-scale projects in the UK and the Middle East. In...
Director, Eckersley O'Callaghan
Hugh helped form EOC’s facade engineering group in 2012 and has had a leading role in the team since. Originally from a structural and civil engineering background, Hugh diversified his skills by studying environmental architecture and brings a holistic knowledge...
Business Development Manager, A. Proctor Group
Mark Lambourn joined the A. Proctor Group in 2019 as Business Development Manager for the UK. Mark has many years of experience in the off-site sector, focusing on façade design, regulation compliance and innovation. By advocating a systems based approach...
Managing Director, Marks Barfield Architects
Julia Barfield, MBE RIBA FRSA, is the Managing Director of multi award winning practice Marks Barfield Architects – co-founded with her late husband David Marks. Best known for designing the London Eye and the i360 in Brighton; Marks Barfield Architects...
Head of Sales, Josef Gartner
Frank is Head of Sales for Josef Gartner GmbH in Germany and is coordinating the activities of an international sales team. He is a civil Engineer. Before managing projects in the Middle East and the US he has started his...
Director | Global Timber Lead, Arup
Andrew Lawrence is Arup’s global timber specialist, Royal Academy of Engineering visiting professor in timber engineering at Cambridge University and lead author for the new edition of “Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures”, published by the Institution of Civil Engineers....
Founder & Technical Director, Ergodomus Timber Engineering
Franco is a structural engineer and the founder of Ergodomus Timber Engineering. He has been working for over 17 years in the design of wooden structures, taking care of all the various aspects: from static to building physics, to 3d...
Design Director, AKT II
Martin joined AKTII as a senior engineer with nine years of experience in 2013. Having graduated with an MEng in Civil Engineering in his native Colombia, he began his career in Spain as a graduate structural engineer. He has led...
Senior Partner, Foster + Partners
Ross joined the practice in 1993 after his Diploma from Kingston University. He has led several significant infrastructure projects, from Canary Wharf Station in London, to Florence High Speed Railway Station and Jeddah Metro. His academic research buildings include the...
Director | Steel & Glass, Lindner Group
Jeppe Hundevad is the President of Lindner Facades and Director of Steel and Glass. He has been at Lindner since November 2014 and has over 30 years of experience working in the field in various positions. He has worked in...
Associate Director – Real Estate, AJ Gallagher
Dominic is an Associate Director and Head of Development within the Real Estate division of Gallagher, a global insurance broker. He represents the insurance sector on a number of cross-industry bodies focussed on breaking down the barriers to the adoption...
Head of Design, Research and Development at Schindler Fenster + Fassaden
Martin Drexler is authorised signatory and head of design, research and development at Schindler Fenster + Fassaden GmbH and has now been active in façade construction for more than 20 years. Martin graduated from Technische Hochschule Rosenheim with a diploma...
Design Director, Thornton Tomasetti
Daniel Bosia, Design Director at Thornton Tomasetti, is a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers with an MSc in Structural and Bridge Engineering and a Master Degree in Architecture. Over the past 25 years, he has collaborated with high...
Head of Construction & LDI, Aviva
Caroline started her career as a Civil Engineer moving into the insurance industry over 20 years ago. She has a wealth of experience across the construction insurance sector, for both UK and International construction risks. She has been involved in...
Associate Director, Elliott Wood
James, a structural engineer with 18 years of professional experience, is committed to improving the urban legacy we pass onto future generations through progressive design, and helping to move the construction industry towards a more balanced, more responsible future. As...
Development Director, The Office Group
Sam joined The Office Group (TOG) in 2011 and has been Development Director since 2014. He has led the team working from site feasibility stage through to Building opening to deliver over 40 TOG buildings to date, with a further...
Associate Director, Whitby Wood
Kelly is an active proponent of sustainable construction, and is particularly experienced in the engineering design of timber and hybrid structures, refurbishment projects and retro-fitting. She has an extensive portfolio of major schemes for the residential, commercial, education, heritage and...
Founding Partner, Waugh Thistleton
Anthony Thistleton is a founding Director of Waugh Thistleton Architects and a passionate advocate of timber construction. Over the past 21 years Waugh Thistleton Architects have established an international reputation for beautiful buildings that acknowledge their impact on the environment....
Group Sales Director, Accsys
John is responsible for Accsys Group Sales, managing a team across the globe. Following degrees in Forestry and Forest Products from University of Wales, Bangor and an MSc in Timber Engineering from the University of Maine, USA, John’s career in...
Principal & Design Director, NBBJ
An architect with 20 years of professional experience, Ingo has led the design and delivery of award-winning projects in the UK and internationally across a diverse range of sectors, including corporate/commercial, higher education, science, healthcare and hospitality. Grounding design in...
Senior Associate Principal, SOM
Phil Obayda is a Senior Associate Principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and leads the Technical Design Group at the London office, heading up the design and delivery on a broad range of complex landmark projects in the UK...
Senior Projects Director, Argent
Peter joined Argent in 2012. He is part of the commercial team and is managing the delivery of Google’s UK headquarters at King’s Cross. He works closely with the Google project team on the design and delivery of this 1...
Director | Fire Engineering, Arup
Judith Schulz is a Director of Arup and a Chartered Engineer and a Member of BRAC Building Regulation Advisory Committee, with over 17 years’ experience in the UK and internationally. Judith has worked on many high profile and award-winning projects,...
Design Director, Thornton Tomasetti
Claudia Farabegoli has more than 20 years of international façade design and consulting experience. Her design credits encompass a wide range of project types, including transportation and aviation, residential and commercial, retail, mixed-use, and sports and cultural facilities. She has...
Director - Aluminium Systems + International Projects, Gutmann Bausysteme
Max Radt is the Sales Director of Aluminium Systems and International Projects at GUTMANN Bausysteme GmbH (Weißenburg, Germany), a leading manufacturer of high-quality aluminium products, since August 2020. He acquired his professional degree in Architecture at the Technical University of...
Global Head - Façade Supply Chain, Lendlease
John Downes is the Global Head of Facades for Lendlease . He has 30 + years’ experience in the façade, construction and real estate development industry. John holds an MSc Façade Engineering from the University of Bath and is a...
Conference Agenda
  • The urgent need to de-carbonise construction rapidly through the extensive use of natural materials
  • Achieving the best timber buildings where material should be integral to the design from the outset
  • How engineered timber opens up new possibilities for repurposing and remodelling existing structures both inside and out
  • What are the main challenges keeping us back from accepting timber widely for projects?
  • How can we work around the existing regulations limiting the use of timber in buildings?
  • Ensuring safety and durability of the project: Dealing with fire, moisture and acoustics challenges
  • What can drive insurers to come on-board relatively easily for projects with timber as main element of the envelope?

Phil Obayda

  • Timber roof structure
  • Integrated envelopes
  • Performative skins
  • Overview on timber composite hybrid stick system and timber composite unitised façade
  • Achieving sustainability and low carbon footprint
  • Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
  • Testing for EN 13830 / CWCT
  • Illustrating stand out examples of mass timber buildings and how construction can go beyond the typical carbon embodiment level
  • Demonstrating very positive sustainability outcomes
  • Showcasing calculated CO2 benefits and the circularity loop that could not be achieved via more conventional building materials
  • Modern traditional sustainability
  • ECO_N characteristics
  • CO2 reduction
  • Merging aesthetics, sustainability and durability
  • Façade's fire performance and safety challenges including seismic response
  • Skirting around the procurement issues for large scale projects
  • Holistic approach needed to engineer the elements and especially the connections
  • Logistic aspects: How to manage them to work even in “remote areas”
  • Water and air tightness to guarantee durability and acoustic performance
  • Analyzing the unique approach to the creation of a large headquarter in an urban environment
  • Adapting infrastructure which remains relevant in current times and is flexible to change in the future
  • Working with challenging and demanding specifications from the client for a best in class office and workplace design
  • Utilising timber as a main material of choice in the façade and throughout the building
  • Developing a brief to engineer and execute the timber façade element

John Downes

  • Conceptualising the mosque as a calm oasis within a grove of trees
  • Using timber columns as ‘trees’ to reach up to support the roof using an interlaced octagonal lattice vault structure evocative of English Gothic fan vaulting
  • Sourcing timber that is sustainable spruce which is curved and laminated
  • Offsite construction membranes
  • Simplified airtightness in façades
  • Fire performance
  • Risk vs reward – The UK appetite for timber
  • Regulatory context and global comparisons
  • Strategies to improve
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