This week, Bilbao Exhibition Centre hosted the biennial professional event

The tenth edition of Egurtek, the International Forum on Timber Architecture and Construction, closed yesterday, consolidating its position as an essential event on the sector’s agenda. A total of 1,710 visitors visited the BEC-Convention Auditorium and the corridors of the Luxua hall, where they held meetings, gatherings and negotiations with some of the 63 exhibitor firms that, over two days (16 and 17 October), harnessed this showcase to display their latest products. It is also worth highlighting the international presence, both in terms of the conference and in terms of exhibitor firms and visitors, who came from 20 countries: besides the Basque Country and the rest of Spain, visitors came from Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, among other countries.

Egurtek 2024 is therefore closing with a positive balance in terms of participation, but also in terms of the level of satisfaction of the participating companies. The mission of this forum is to be a space where professionals can share experiences and good practices, as well as to take advantage of synergies and promote the use of timber as a sustainable construction material and a determining factor in reducing the greenhouse effect and climate change.

These figures confirm a successful edition, which has also exceeded the organisation’s best expectations, confirming the messages sent out on the opening day. “Egurtek is a meeting point of international interest for professionals in the sector,” said Xabier Basañez, general manager of Bilbao Exhibition Centre, on that day. On the same stage, the Basque Government’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy, Raúl Pérez Iratxeta, pointed out three “positive approaches” to Egurtek: it has “added value around timber;” it is “a stimulus for innovation, research and knowledge transfer;” and it can be used as “a tool to give a natural status to the use of timber in society.”

Conference, Expo Zone and Technical Conferences

Over the course of two days, the meeting featured a Conference really worthy of the name” with the participation of a dozen internationally-renowned speakers from Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Norway and Finland, as well as, on a more local level, Bilbao, Usurbil and Barcelona. Undoubtedly, one of the star interventions was that of the 2023 Pritzker Prize winner, David Chipperfield, who yesterday gave an online talk in which he set out his vision of the role of architecture and its contribution to society, the dimension of timber in construction and the current consumption model.

In their respective presentations during the Conference, the architects offered interesting reflections in which they expressed their professional and personal commitment. “Bioclimatic design is one of the most interesting resources to adapt architecture to climate change;” “some of the advantages of timber are its low carbon footprint and its humanity within a digital environment;” “timber provides beauty, warmth, authenticity and connection with nature” or “it provides a warm point that connects with the ancestral traditions of the home such as fire, thanks to its warmth and even its smell,” are among these conceptual contributions.

Morover, the Technical Conference attracted a good number of people interested in finding out about the latest developments in its four main thematic blocks: the sustainable forest bioeconomy in the Basque Country; the digitalisation of the Basque forestry-timber sector; acoustics in timber buildings; and the architecture and design workshop to explore the potential of timber and to balance relations with the natural environment (Eman egurra!!).

The Expo Zone, with 63 participating firms, showcased the latest solutions and trends in timber construction. Morover, the Innovation WorkShops have established themselves as a space for presenting new products and services.

Another one of the most outstanding events of all the editions of Egurtek is the presentation of the awards, prizes in six categories for the best projects and the best ideas in the construction and design sector with timber as the common material. This year’s awards went to:

  • Building: Casa Panchés in Carnota (A Coruña), by Óscar Andrés Quintela and Iván Andrés Quintela.
  • Second prize: Berbés Uvigo in Ribera de Berbés (Vigo), by Elisabeth Abalo Díaz and Gonzalo Alonso Núñez.
  • Interior design: The Joy of Living – Bizipoza (Donostia), by Iñaki Albistur Martín and Raquel Ares Joana.
  • Product design: Mohma System, by Francisco Mangado Beloqui and Fernando Oíza Redín.
  • Special Prize – LOCAL TIMBER (Basque Quality): New offices for Galenicum 1822 in Barcelona, by David Lorente Ibañez, Josep Ricart Ulldemolins, Xavier Ros Majó and Roger Tudó Galí.
  • BOIS/EGURRA/MADERA Special Prize (BEM): Social rental housing in Entremutilvas (Navarre), by Javier Pérez Herreras, Francisco Javier Quintana de Uña, Edurne Pérez Díaz de Arcaya, Roberto Erviti Machain, Miguel Alonso Flamarique, Mª Carmen Escorihuela Vitales and Unai Armendariz Vidaurre.
  • Special Awards- DISSEMINATION: Technical Series of Madeira/Madera/ publications by Cesuga.

This forum is organised by Bilbao Exhibition Centre and sponsored by the Basque Government’s Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, with the collaboration of Baskegur-Association of Timber in the Basque Country, the Official Basque-Navarre Association of Architects, the Official Association of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Bizkaia, the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of the Basque Country, the San Sebastian School of Architecture (UPV/EHU), the School of Engineering of the Basque Country, the School of Industrial Engineers of the Basque Country, the San Sebastian School of Architecture (UPV/EHU) and the School of Engineering of the Basque Country; the Official Association of Quantity Surveyors and Technical Architects of Bizkaia; the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of the Basque Country; the Higher Technical School of Architecture of San Sebastian (UPV/EHU); the School of Engineering of Bilbao (UPV/EHU); the Polytechnic University School (UPV/EHU), and HAZI Fundazioa.