Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd.

06/08/2017

Here are some more photos from our Coney St. project. Check out our last post for more information!

06/05/2017

Some members of the M&L team (Gord, Ben and Craig) are across the pond in York working on a heritage project. Specifically, they’re doing remediation work to the timber sections of a medieval structure constructed in 1522 (yes, 1522!). It sits on Coney St., which is now one of York’s main shopping streets. The work is being done to the front wall, the third floor, and the attic.

Craig reports, “There is significant deterioration to several components. Our goal is to retain as much of the original wood as possible, with emphasis on the joinery, as well as the carpentry marks, which are a series of marks scratched into the timber faces used to label the timbers to show where it belongs inside the frame. We are using a combination of face patching, Dutchman repairs, scarf joint splicing and wholesale replacement. All the wood in this frame is Oak, which is typical of English timber framing.”

A crane arrived bright and early this morning at 6:00am to lift the new timbers into place, so we’ll have more images for you all soon!

05/23/2017

It looks like our newest playground is a hit with both kids and adults alike! Thanks for the write up on Sapperton Park in the City of New Westminster, Royal City Record! Let us know if you had a chance to check it out over the long weekend.

It's only been open for a few days, but it's already well on its way to becoming a hotspot for family fun. The new playground at Sapperton Park opened for the long weekend, and local kids and families took full advantage of the hot and sunny weather to turn out for fun. The park features an adventur...

05/18/2017

In 2010, we were invited to collaborate on the design of a new playground for the City of Richmond - Local Government. The team wished to explore the complimentary themes of nature-based play and risky-play; two rapidly emerging trends in Canadian playground design. The initial challenge was to create fully-compliant, safe spaces for children to play, where they could be the authors of their own self-directed adventures. Additionally, the team had a strong desire to use local, sustainable materials as opposed to imported wood species. The result was the multiple award-winning Terra Nova Play Environment, which has attracted international attention and honours.

We learned a lot during that initial project and one thing became crystal clear: we LOVE making playgrounds! We haven’t looked back. Since then, we have designed and delivered play equipment all across the province and beyond. We now have a dedicated team of designers and craftspeople (enthusiasts!) working on play equipment year-round.

As such, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our playgrounds brochure and catalog!

If you feel inspired by the playground options available in our catalog and feel your creative juices flowing, let us know! At heart, we're a design-build firm and nothing excites us more than getting to custom design something to suit our clients' unique needs, location, and budget.

Take a look at our brochure and let us know of your thoughts! - http://bit.ly/2qWfnj6

05/08/2017

Our friends at Homefulness at Woodwynn Farms were featured in the Peninsula News Review last week! We're pleased to be a part of this important (and local!) project and are looking forward to starting work. For more information on Woodwynn Farms, please visit https://www.woodwynnfarms.org.

http://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/news/woodwynn-farms-barn-undergoing-historic-renovations-thanks-to-100000-canada-150-grant/

04/24/2017

Here's another Cowichan Valley Citizen article that M&L is pleased to be featured in - http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/somenos-marsh-viewing-platform-nears-construction-phase/

04/04/2017

What a wonderful announcement for some of B.C.’s cultural and heritage organizations! We’re thrilled to see $7.6 million in funding go into 220 important projects around the province through the B.C | Canada 150 program. M&L’s very own Gordon Macdonald serves as Chairman of Heritage BC. Gord and his colleagues have been advocating for more funding to the heritage sector for the past 18-months or so. It's really exciting to see this project being implemented, and let's hope that it is a reflection of more good things to come in throughout 2017!

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017CSCD0065-001003

03/21/2017

We're delighted to have been featured in the Cowichan Valley Citizen's March 15th print! You can read the article here: http://bit.ly/2nGRp9A

Working in the Antarctic might seem like a long way to go for staff members from Mill Bay's Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd.

03/09/2017

I started my timber framing career doing this.

The often forgotten, but no less crucial part of the jigsaw, holding everything in place on every frame we make, the humble peg.

03/08/2017

Almost a year ago, we featured our Tsawwassen Mills Mall (TMM) project here at our workshop, followed by it’s installation phase. Today, we’re pleased to announce that same project won a Wood WORKS! BC 2017 Wood Design Award in the Commercial Wood Design category! Congratulations are extended to the award recipient, Chris Jacques of Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. (RJC Engineers).

Our projects were also nominated in four (!) other categories:

• Interior Beauty Design – Shawnigan Lake Main Building & Library
• Institutional Wood Design, Small – Alexandra District Energy Utility
• Institutional Wood Design, Large – Wellington Secondary School
• Wood Innovation – Alexandra District Energy Utility

Way to go, team!

Full project credits:
Owner – Ivanhoe Cambridge
Architect – Stantec
Engineer – RJC Engineering
Contractor – Ledcor

02/09/2017

Love what these guys do.

New projects can be exciting but also daunting and overwhelming, especially when something as important as your home is at the heart. Having journeyed through many a winding path, I find myself writing for Carpenter Oak. Carpenter Oak isn’t new to me, my partner, Don is a Senior Carpenter and has…

02/07/2017

This is a small local project that we are supporting and we are now making a call for volunteers. In particular we could use some experienced timber framers who would like to help direct volunteers to raise the frame. Please share on your own networks to spread the word.