Architects’ attitude and preferences towards timber as a building / construction material

• Main Author: Jibid, Jaen Zhoweyna
• Format: Project Paper Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/91149/1/FH%202018%2055%20IR.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/91149/

Timber is a versatile, durable and wonderful material which found its usage in various aspects of people’s life for thousands of years. Its versatility means that it has a broad range of uses in society, especially as a material for the construction of buildings. Building and construction project involves multiple levels of thoroughly planned decisions and among it includes the materials to be used in the project. There are several key players that decide on many decisions for the project, including what materials to be used. Among them, the architect usually is one of the main key players that decide if timber is to be used as materials in the project. The aim of this project is to understand architect’s preference and attitude in choosing timber as building and construction materials. A web-based survey using a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from architects listed from Board of Architects in Malaysia and Malaysian Institute of Architects. From the survey, most of the architects gave a positive response on selecting timber and timber product as a construction material. However, there are some factors and reason that hinders architects from specifying timber and timber product. This in return may help the timber industries in Malaysia to understand the weaker aspects of timber that need to be strengthen and polish the potential aspects of timber, so that timber will rise up again to become a competitive buildings and construction materials.