2024-07-06 23:19:52
The Czech pavilion built for Expo Osaka 2025 will be the tallest wooden structure of its kind in Japan. The representatives of the Czech side had to convince the Japanese authorities during a demanding process that the spiral-shaped building could handle possible natural disasters. This week, the first containers with a wooden structure ceremoniously left Veřovice in Novojičínsk.
The pavilion will be built from wooden glued elements and so-called CLT panels. These are wooden panels composed of several glued layers, which are placed transversely for better strength. Glass complements the wooden structure. In Japan, however, they have stricter standards and a limited height for wooden buildings in connection with, for example, the threat of earthquakes.
“We fully respect Japanese regulations and standards. However, we had to convince the Japanese authorities that the wooden construction without the use of steel supporting elements is strong and robust enough to withstand the possible onslaught of an earthquake or the force of the wind that occurs there during typhoons. We had to document laboratory tests of wood and connecting materials,” said Ondřej Soška, general commissioner of the Czech participation in EXPO 2025.
He stated that it is the tallest wooden structure in Japan built without the use of steel supporting elements. “We have been working on this since last April. We communicated with the authorities in Osaka and at the government level. We found the way. We really had to document a lot of materials. In the end, we succeeded, which we are rightly proud of,” added Soška.
Two months on the road
The company A2Timber is responsible for the supply of wood to the general contractor of the building, the Japanese construction company Daisue, which focuses on larger wooden buildings made of wood-glued materials. Production director Martin Povala said that around 1,000 cubic meters of wood will be used to build the pavilion.
“The first wood we are sending today should arrive in Osaka at the end of August. Other containers will follow. Construction work should begin in mid-September. In mid-December, we should hand over the baton to colleagues who will apply glazing to our spiral,” he said She was on the floor. The first seven out of a total of about 50 containers are now leaving the Czech Republic. These are the supporting columns of the pavilion, which will be visible in the restaurant on the ground floor of the building.
Take a look at the Czech national pavilion at EXPO 2025 | Video: Czechia at Expo 2025 Osaka
The wood is prepared in a number of places in the Czech Republic. Excavated logs are processed into glued laminated timber, CLT panels and others. Some parts go to the woodworking hall of the A2Timber company, where they are further processed. Fasteners will be provided and possible coatings will be applied.
“If necessary, a part of the structure will be assembled in the hall and then disassembled. This process of assembly and subsequent disassembly will be carried out, for example, with a complex roof structure, to ensure that everything will fit on the structure and can be assembled without major problems, ” added Jana Kohoutová, spokeswoman for the Czech participation.
From the Czech Republic, the containers head to the largest German port in Hamburg, from where they sail to Osaka in about eight to ten weeks. The Czech Republic will participate as an independent state in the EXPO world exhibition for the sixth time.
In Osaka, the Czech Republic should be presented not only with what the Japanese know very well and admire for a long time, for example Czech glass and classical music, but especially with Czech innovations, nanotechnologies, perspective start-ups and talents from the regions.