• Question: What kind of wood do you use? How long does it take that wood to grow? How do you plan to build these huge structures?

    Asked by Allyn Mckenna to Caoimhe, Colin, David, Katie, Lisa on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by SineadD.
    • Photo: Caoimhe O'Neill

      Caoimhe O'Neill answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I use Sitka Spruce which takes around 30 years to grow – I know that sounds like a long time but it is actually a very fast growing wood compared to others of similar size and strength.
      The huge structures will be of Portal Frame construction (http://www.ab.deakin.edu.au/online/vgallery/2004/srt251/team10/Site%20Pages/Structural%20Systems/timberportalframes.html) – this is basically a series of simple frames to create a large rectangular shaped open space.

    • Photo: Colin Keogh

      Colin Keogh answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      I use wood to create energy (either as heat or electricity). I can can use all types from trees, leaves, bark, sticks, twigs, grass etc. I can even use seaweed & pond scum (Algae) to create really valuable products such as petrol, chemical, make-up, food, plastic and animal feeds.

      While trees and plants take a long time to grow, algae grow in a few days, so its very fast growing meaning we can farm it like vegetables to create renewable green energy.

    • Photo: Katie Mahon

      Katie Mahon answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      I don’t use any wood in my designs, they are nearly all stainless steel (metal which will not rust) and sometimes carbon steel, but this is a cheaper material so it wouldn’t really be used on pharmaceutical projects. We have used plastic tanks before as well but we buy them in as we don’t have all the tools to make them ourselves.

    • Photo: David Taylor

      David Taylor answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      I’ve done some research on bamboo, which is a kind of wood. It’s very good for the environment because it grows very fast so it’s a renewable resource. It can be used to build large structures.

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