Embark on the roots of natural living

If you visited the Prague fair Dřevostavby 2012 last year, you might remember the atypical exhibition in the form of an eight-meter-high tree. The three-story wooden exhibition by NOVATOP staged the story of a tree that grew in the forest, journeyed to energy-efficient processing, and finally became part of the walls of a dwelling, blending with the stories of its inhabitants.

The fact that NOVATOP panels are made from solid wood will be confirmed at this year's edition of Dřevostavby 2013. It will take place at the Exhibition Center in Prague-Holešovice from February 21 to 24. The NOVATOP exhibition will offer visitors a true piece of nature — with live trees from the forest, logs instead of chairs, and a unique wooden cave.



NOVATOP is a successful example of how modern technology can work in perfect harmony with a natural lifestyle and environmental friendliness. See for yourself when the allure of Dřevostavby 2013 begins to make your ears ache, and you long for something genuine.

The NOVATOP team looks forward to seeing you at exhibition S15 in the central hall.

The wooden cave project, which will be part of the exhibition, was realized by Marek Pavlas as part of his postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague. The goal was to create a sample structure at a 1:1 scale and test the possibilities and properties of laminated wood technology on a real building. The architectural design utilizes the capabilities of modern CNC machines, making the transfer of any shapes from a digital model to reality simple and very precise.

“Descending into the cave is a return to roots, rediscovering the primal human dwelling,” comments the author, Ing. arch. Marek Pavlas. “Wood is one of the oldest materials that humans have mastered for building their houses. The wooden cave reveals the origin of the human need to protect oneself from the adversity of the surrounding world.”

For the third time, the NOVATOP exhibition will be constructed by the company Dřevostavby MC, which has a history of various bold projects. “This year it looks significantly simpler than in previous years, when we built a house or a three-story exhibition in record time. The emphasis on detail is always the same – maximal! And we are really looking forward to it because it is always a completely new experience that pushes us all forward, just like the structural and aesthetic boundaries of NOVATOP,” comments this year's exhibition leader Martin Novák.

The properties of cross-laminated solid wood panels allow for bold structural solutions and inspire architects while presenting challenges. Construction companies transform these interesting projects into truly massive wooden buildings, attracting the attention of those who had previously distrusted wooden constructions due to their perceived fragility. The technological sophistication of NOVATOP eliminates common wooden building errors and significantly increases the quality of finished constructions. It offers the owner daily contact with noble interior surfaces and the awareness that their house grew in the forest without irreversible damage to the environment.

Massive wooden panels from NOVATOP are quickly making their way into the market, especially in low-energy and passive houses. A significant argument is the simplicity of the construction details. This goes hand in hand with a minimal number of assembly joints, which fundamentally reduces the amount of errors and thermal bridges. Another important argument is the simple wall compositions. If the construction remains exposed in the interior, only two functional layers are needed – thermal insulation and façade. The simplicity of execution not only reflects in the speed of construction but also in the economic aspect of the entire building.
The cherry on top of this technology is the possibility of exposing the load-bearing structure and utilizing the visual qualities of spruce wood for the final solution of interior surfaces. Visible wood offers entirely new possibilities in shaping architecture and elegantly combines a large proportion of wood with modern interiors. This does increase the demands for project and construction coordination, but the result is unique. Architects, not just in our region, like to combine wooden surfaces with classic painting, exposed concrete, vinyl, and metal. The panels perform excellently in exposed ceilings or in the ceilings of attics, where they create a functional load-bearing layer and allow for the integration of lighting and installations directly within the structure. The wood on the panels can be treated just like natural wood or even tinted in color.