Jul 30, 20263 min
The Big Viking Wood Puzzle
How Vikings invented timber framingâwith no nails, just stubbornness, mead, and the mighty mortise-and-tenon.
FrameVerk field notes
Timber-frame knowledge for real projects
Practical guidance for planning, designing and building timber frames, organized to help you find the next useful answer.
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Article archive
Browse every published FrameVerk article, ordered from newest to oldest.
Jul 30, 20264 min
Ireland Lays the Groundwork for a âWood Firstâ Policy in Public Projects
Irelandâs Timber in Construction Steering Group has delivered a seven-point roadmap covering regulation, procurement, carbon, skills and industry capacity. Its proposed âWood Firstâ approach would make timber the first material considered for public projectsânot an automatic choice and not yet a nationwide mandate.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Small Cabins, Big Dreams â Why Timberframe Houses Under 100 m² Are Taking Over
Small cabins, lower costs, big comfort. Why compact timberframe houses are dominating 2025.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Bouygues and FCBA Renew a Three-Year Push to Scale Timber Construction
Bouygues Bâtiment France, Linkcity and FCBA have renewed their strategic partnership through 2029, targeting technical validation, regulation and the large-scale deployment of timber buildings.
Jul 30, 20263 min
France Publishes a New Test Route for Timber-Frame Façades
FCBAâs 2026 guidance gives manufacturers and project teams a clearer way to verify how external cladding behaves on timber-frame façades under deformation and wind-driven rain.
Jul 30, 20265 min
France Wants Timber on the Podium for the 2030 Winter Olympics
The France Bois 2030 mission is turning the French Alps Winter Games into a test of local timber supply, low-carbon procurement and long-term reuse. Launched in 2026, it aims to help project teams specify French wood without repeating avoidable mistakes from Paris 2024.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Italy Tests a Hybrid Timber System for Taller, Earthquake-Resilient Buildings
The HyWood4Buildings research project combines solid-sawn timber walls with a steelâtimber lateral system, aiming to use local wood more efficiently in taller and reusable structures.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Munichâs 27,500 m² Sun Office Moves Ahead as a Timber Hybrid
Glulam, CLT and timber-concrete ribbed slabs form the structural system of Sun, a large Munich workplace designed around renewable energy and flexible floorplates.
Jul 30, 20265 min
Norway Leads âŹ4.2 Million Push to Turn Reclaimed Timber into New Buildings
The SINTEF-led ReCLAiMiT project starts in September 2026 with a European research programme for assessing, dismantling and remanufacturing structural timber instead of burning or downcycling it.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Norway Opens âŹ200,000 Call for Zero-Waste Timber Construction Ideas
The NIBIO-coordinated WoodStock project will fund four European teams with up to âŹ50,000 each to test circular products and building systems that use underutilised wood.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Oslo Adds Two Timber Storeys to a 150-Year-Old Building
Ăvre Vollgate 11 combines a protected masonry structure with new glulam trusses and mass-timber floors, showing how lightweight prefabrication can unlock urban extensions.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Predazzoâs Olympic Village Builds Its Legacy in Timber
The 2026 Winter Games village in Predazzo combines new timber and steel accommodation with renovated historic buildings, then returns the permanent campus to the Guardia di Finanza after the athletes leave.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Romaniaâs nZEB Expo Gives Timber Construction a 352-Square-Metre Platform
At nZEB Expo 2026 in Bucharest, the Wood Hub became the eventâs dedicated Timber Partner. The expanded platform connected timber-frame manufacturers, engineered-wood specialists and energy-efficient construction audiences.
Jul 30, 20266 min
Romaniaâs Timber Industry Calls for 25% Wood in Every New Public Building
ASFOR is asking Romania to require wood products to represent at least 25% of the value of each new public building. The 2026 proposal could reshape procurement, but it is an industry positionânot an adopted law.
Jul 30, 20269 min
The Hollow-Chisel Mortiser: Your New Best Friend for 100 Perfect Mortises (Before Lunch)
The hollow-chisel mortiser is the ultimate time-saving, precision-boosting tool for timber framers. Hereâs why it beats hand-chopping in speed, accuracy, and sanityâfeaturing Sven & Olafâs legendary woodworking wisdom.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Shakespeare Gets a Curved Mass-Timber Stage in New Yorkâs Hudson Valley
The 451-seat Scripps Theater Center opens beneath a bird-wing-inspired timber grid shell designed to frame both performance and landscape.
Jul 30, 20264 min
Romania Already Has Rules for CLT BuildingsâWhat Designers Need to Know in 2026
Romaniaâs timber design regulation includes specific provisions for cross-laminated timber walls, openings and product documentation. The challenge in 2026 is turning those clauses into coordinated, verifiable project workflows.
Jul 30, 20266 min
C16 vs C24 Timber: When Homegrown UK Wood Fits the Job
UK-grown softwood is commonly graded C16, while imported C24 remains familiar. The useful question is what the verified design actually requires.
Jul 30, 20263 min
Londonâs 4 Arbour Street Opens with a Hybrid CLT and Low-Carbon Concrete Structure
The first office building at Brent Cross Town is now open. Its structure combines cross-laminated timber slabs with precast concrete beams and columns, offering a practical case study in hybrid material design.
Jul 30, 20266 min
Bellway Opens Robotic Timber-Frame Factory Built to Supply 3,000 Homes a Year
Bellway Home Space has begun supplying timber-frame kits from a 135,000-square-foot factory in Nottinghamshire. The housebuilder plans to scale output to around 3,000 homes annually by 2030, bringing robotic off-site manufacturing into its mainstream delivery model.
Jul 29, 20263 min
Englandâs Future Homes Standard Is Here: Why Timber Frame Could Gain from a Fabric-First Race
England published the Future Homes and Buildings Standards in March 2026. Heat pumps, solar generation and tighter performance rules put envelope quality and repeatable off-site construction under pressure.
Jul 29, 20266 min
Canada puts mass timber inside its 2026 forest-sector reset
A federal transformation task force, new manufacturing investments and a renewed housing-focused wood programme place mass timber and prefabrication inside Canadaâs industrial strategyânot just its architecture pages.
Jul 29, 20263 min
Timber Design Software Attracts A$3 Million: Why Investors Backed SPEC Toolbox
Australiaâs SPEC Toolbox raised A$3 million in January 2026 to expand a structural-design platform that began with mass timber and now connects engineers with verified product data.
Jul 29, 20265 min
Two Robots, 352 Screws: LASER Schedules a Full-Scale Timber Slab
University of Stuttgart researchers coordinated two robots to assemble a 2.4-by-6-metre timber slab through 108 subroutines and 352 screws, while respecting collisions and adhesive time limits.