B.C. Lumber Goes for Olympic Gold

London Olympic Velodrome | BCBusiness
B.C. cedar adorns London’s Olympic Velodrome.

London’s giant Pringle is a glowing ad for B.C. wood.

There’s a typically British quip that Brits only excel in sports where they can sit down, such as sailing and cycling. If it’s true, then the nation’s eyes will not only be trained on the new velodrome in London’s Olympic Park, but on an inescapable advertisement for B.C. The stunning exterior of the new cycle track, visible from miles around, is encased in 24,000 pieces – or 280 cubic metres – of the province’s western red cedar.

Initiated by the U.K. division of the New Westminster-headquartered Probyn Group, which employs 250 staff in custom cutting, sawmilling, exports and timberland management, the deal is one of the largest commissions – around five times a normal order of cladding – in the company’s 30-year history.

“We initially thought the wood was for the inside walls or ceiling, so this is an even better result, given the exposure from the outside,” U.K. manager Mike Chong says of the building, already nicknamed the Pringle for its curves. With the Games being broadcast to some 3.8 billion viewers, he adds, “It’s certainly going to help in the marketing of B.C. from a business perspective.” Western red cedar is found only in B.C. and parts of Washington, he explains, so with the exposure the velodrome is giving to western red cedar, “architects and builders must look to B.C. as a source.”

The proliferation of the wood in Vancouver and Whistler during the 2010 Winter Olympics likely played a part in the rise of its popularity, and now cedar is gaining traction in the U.K., which has traditionally been mostly known for brick construction. Chong attributes the wood’s rising popularity to its sustainability credentials (including chain-of-custody certification) and “its beauty, durability and resistance to decay.” From a major department store’s building in Cheshire to a seniors’ home in Surrey, the Probyn Group is currently supplying cedar for projects in the U.K. to the tune of around $6 million annually. Although the volume of wood Probyn supplied to the U.K. dipped slightly during the recession, the value of contracts there has risen, due to an increase in value-added finished products.

After landing the confirmed purchase order for the cladding via contacts in the U.K., Probyn turned to Surrey’s Power Wood Corp. to supply the particular cedar required, and to cut it into two precise patterns. Four 40-foot container loads were shipped from Power Wood’s five-acre site in mid-2010, explains owner Jake Power. Echoing Chong, he adds, “This wood is all us – it’s all British Columbia.”

The two companies hope to build on the potential boost to business long after the Games have headed to Rio. Whether western red cedar becomes the wood of choice for velodromes remains to be seen, but Probyn is hoping the high-profile project will build on one particular change. “Traditionally, we were shipping rough-sawn lumber to the U.K.,” Chong explains. “We would like to gain a reputation as a supplier of finished products, rather than raw material to be remanufactured over there.”

Luckily, unlike a number of the Olympic buildings such as the basketball arena, the velodrome – and B.C.’s cedar – will remain as part of the new Lee Valley VeloPark. To have seen it dismantled after the event “would have been heartbreaking,” Power concludes.