The interior load-bearing structure and exterior façades of Le Tournesol day nursery in Renens were expertly crafted by Charpentes Vial.

Wood is one of humanity’s earliest building materials. From traditional chalets to state-of-the-art industrial facilities and multi-story apartment blocks, Fribourg’s carpenters and joiners have a demonstrated capacity to adapt their tried and tested techniques to changing needs. At the same time, they have forged partnerships with local higher education institutions to develop innovative solutions that ensure wood keeps its edge in the competitive construction market and remains an attractive alternative to less sustainable building materials at a time when the climate crisis is pushing us to reinvent our practices and way of life.

“Since we were involved in building four bridges over the Bulle* bypass in 2004, we got to work on creating a highly innovative notch system for fastening wood to concrete”, as Grégoire Vial, Managing Director of the Fribourg-based joinery firm Charpentes Vial SA, explains. “We partnered with the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture (HEIA-FR) to perfect the system and make it industry-ready.” The advantages of wood-concrete hybrids are many: lighter structures, greater design and architectural versatility, excellent durability, and sound thermal and acoustic performance.

Charpentes Vial SA has recently put this principle into practice when it worked on the construction of several five- and six-story school and housing cooperative buildings in Western Switzerland. According to Vial, research work with the HEIA-FR continues apace, “At the moment, we’re running tests on building slabs made from recycled concrete.”

Pushing the technology further

Assembly systems are also the subject of another innovative project, led by Fribourg-based JPF-Ducret SA in partnership with the Vaud School of Engineering and Management (HEIG-VD). The patented Ferwood® system uses metal rods which are sealed into the wood with epoxy resin, which makes it possible to connect wood components and bond them with other materials. “For high-performance building projects, we push our technology even further.” These include massive structures that require large-scale load-bearing elements like industrial premises, shopping malls and ice rinks.

Since 2020, the Grisoni Group has been making inroads in the wood construction sector, notably thanks to its acquisition of Dougoud Construction Bois SA and Lanthmann Constructions Bois SA. As Alexandre Lanthmann, the Managing Director of the company that shares his name, explains, “Modular construction and workshop prefabrication not only save us time, but also allow us to take full advantage of the benefits that the latest technological innovations offer.” According to Lanthmann, the planned creation of a center of excellence in wood construction will enable the company to expand its product range.

*The second largest city in the canton of Fribourg