Glued laminated wood construction on the beach in Mamaia

When he told me that they were going to build on the sea, right on the beach in Mamaia, Christof also sent me the exact location on Google Maps. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see the Tehnica Schweiz in action and at the same time to see Mamaia again after many years.

I met Christof Krattiger in Brasov, at the Expowood. He is Swiss, who came to Romania to follow his father and his passion. Their name is linked to Technical Switzerland, a company founded by Christof's father that specializes in the production of glued laminated wood, designing and building constructions using this material. Don't imagine some Swiss banker who has exhausted all the investment opportunities in the world and, in the absence of others, has chosen Romania as his future financial business. No. The man is a passionate carpenter. If you don't believe me, watch the movie at the end. The top, topmost one, who makes the beams line up perfectly is Simon Krattiger, Christof's father. In fact, they were both very much involved in the whole construction process.

At Expowood we were booth neighbors, we ate together, we made friends, Christof being the straightforward and friendly type, the one who comes to you with a pretzel because he sees you tired and not eating.🙂 I then decided to pay them a visit at Voiteg, in Timis, to see them at work. But before I got there, he let me know that they had a job in Mamaia. I was really waiting for the opportunity!

The GPS took me all the way north of the resort to Nuba Beach Club. I arrived at a time when everyone seemed to be getting ready for the start of the season and everyone around me was delivering everything from furniture to palm trees. It wasn't hard to track down the Schweiz technicians. The knocks on the wood, similar to beats on a drum, led me to them. When I arrived, 3 days after the installation had started, the work was almost finished. They are very well organized and efficient. Incidentally, Christof told me that they only got the contract 3 weeks ago. The owner was in a hurry and imposed a very tight deadline. Their production capacity allowed them to do it within the deadline, but they only accepted the work after they were sure that their suppliers could secure the raw materials in such a short time. In the relationship between architects, engineers and beneficiaries, Tehnica sees itself as both supplier and consultant, offering its support for the realization of the projects and its engineering and design expertise. To me the story seemed to work with Swiss watch precision.

Glulam is renowned for quality construction with superior strength properties and is perfect for vaulted ceilings exposed to view.

The project involved the realization of a large span external structure, covering a wide space without the need for intermediate supporting pillars. Given both the site and the final destination, a construction with a contemporary aesthetic and a strong visual impact was required. Glulam came as the solution for this work, offering a combination of structural and aesthetic attributes. It is a quality construction material, lightweight, flexible, with high load-bearing capacity, easy to assemble and in a short time. In addition, there was a need for a material that could successfully meet the challenges of a wet and aggressive seaside environment. Schweitz Technik carried out the design of the required wooden elements and accessories, the production of the complete assembly kit and the erection/assembly of the entire structure on site. For 3 weeks they worked from Monday to Saturday to get everything ready before assembly. And the high degree of prefabrication and preparation of the timber meant that their time on site was also very short.

To design the structure, they used Cadwork, a 3D-CAD/CAM software for timber construction.

Cadwork is used in the design and production of timber structures, framing and joinery. For this reason, it has specific tools that a designer, architect or carpenter must use in his projects. The most common operations in this type of construction (joints, solutions, construction details) are incorporated in Cadwork as intuitive tools and catalogs to design any 3D model.

The software is a flexible solution covering every stage of a project, from design to site management, from modeling to cutting. With Cadwork and its interfacing possibilities with other applications and machines, production processes can be automated by transmitting data directly to CNC-controlled machining centers and assembly lines.

Technical construction details

I'll leave you with what I filmed during my visit.