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The Wood Innovation Group
TWIG is building connections across BC’s wood value chain—from forest to finished product. Through events, workshops, and community gatherings, we create space for learning, exchange, and collaboration—helping lay the groundwork for wood products that reflect the strength and potential of a complete BC value system.
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This newsletter is dedicated to those who see potential in BC’s forest resources and want to be part of shaping what comes next—through creativity, design, hands-on work, or new ways of thinking. It’s about blending tradition with technology and contributing to a more resilient, locally rooted forest economy.
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Your voice matters. If you have events, projects, or ideas to share, reach out to us at info@twigbca.ca
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Squamish Shop Tours
Meet at TAG Panels, 39619 Galbraith Ave
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Join us as we tour 4 wood shops in Squamish and finish up with a visit to the Oceanfront presentation centre and food and drinks at the House of Lager. More Info+
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More info for these events will be expanded on below, and the up-to-date TWIG events can be found online at twigbc.ca/events/
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From Summer Inspiration to Fall Creation
We’re nearing the end of summer and looking ahead to a busy September for wood-related events in Vancouver. With the Global Buyers Mission, Woodrise and IDS Vancouver, on the horizon, there will be no shortage of opportunities to connect. For once, we’ll be spending more time as attendees rather than organizers, which will be a welcome change of pace.
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I hope you still have plans to explore BC and immerse yourself in nature before the season ends. One of my favourite simple pleasures is looking through a fresh pile of chopped wood. When a log is split, it reveals its growth patterns: organic, textured, and dynamic, telling the story of years gone by. Unlike the uniform surfaces left by machine tools, these fractured faces feel more honest. Every so often, a piece catches my eye and finds its way into the small collection I display at home.
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Perhaps this summer you’ll find a piece of wood that speaks to you—something you might transform into a walking stick, a side table, a wall hanging, or a mobile for the patio. In the days before advanced tools, people adapted wood to fit a need based on its natural shape, letting its form guide its function. This way of working still holds magic today. Wood can become almost anything your imagination envisions.
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Maybe this fall is the time to start that project you’ve been dreaming about. We’re already working with MakerLabs in Vancouver to plan an October event: a wood design jam to bring ideas to life. Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter for more details.
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With forest-felt regards,
Patrick Christie and The TWIG team
info@twigbc.ca
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Shop tours in Squamish
August 13th
2:00 - 5:30 - Shop Tours - $10
6:00 - 8:00 - Oceanfront Squamish - $10
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Meet at 2:00 p.m. at TAG Panels – 39619 Galbraith Ave
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Join the Sea to Sky Wood Network for an afternoon of guided shop tours through Squamish’s wood industry. This curated walkthrough provides participants with a behind-the-scenes look at four distinct local manufacturers, each playing their role in transforming raw wood into value-added wood materials.
We’ll end the day at Oceanfront Squamish to visit a striking mass timber structure that showcases local design and wood innovation. From the building’s architectural form to the crafted details throughout the presentation suite and surrounding landscape, it’s a celebration of regional talent and material excellence. During our visit, we’ll hear from representatives from Naikoon, Matthews Development, and Workbench Studio as well as a few local artists who contributed custom benches to the site - Art Harry and Eileen Kiyonaga. We will cap things off with food and drinks at House of Lager.
Whether you’re in design, manufacturing, building, or have an interest in wood—this is a unique opportunity to learn, connect, and get inspired by what’s happening in Squamish.
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For those interested and coming from Vancouver we are going to organize some carpooling to make it easy and safe to get there and back. Click this link to join the WhatsApp group we have set up to coordinate.
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Start the day at TAG, where prefabricated high-performance wall panels are designed to speed up builds while improving energy efficiency. Learn how they integrate digital tools, material science, and systemized construction.
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Scottywood transforms wood through thermal modification—producing stable, durable, chemical-free materials ideal for decking, cladding, and interiors. As the only ThermoWood®–certified North American manufacturer, they show how local resources can elegantly replace tropical hardwoods
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One of BC’s leading producers of glulam and engineered timber, FraserWood supplies custom structural components across the province, with deep roots in Squamish’s industrial landscape.
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With a focus on professional wood finishing, Fisher Coatings works with manufacturers and shops to deliver consistent, durable coatings—from matte to high-gloss—on wood surfaces of all kinds.
Oceanfront Presentation Centre
At the heart of Squamish’s new waterfront community is the Oceanfront Presentation Centre—a striking mass timber structure that showcases local design and wood innovation. From the building’s architectural form to the crafted details throughout the presentation suite and surrounding landscape, it’s a celebration of regional talent and material excellence. During our visit, we’ll hear from representatives of Naikoon, Matthews West, and Workbench Studio, as well as a few local artists who contributed custom benches to the site.
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***All S2S events and information can be found online at twigbc.ca/s2s
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Robot Made: Large-Scale Robotic Timber Fabrication in Architecture
Associate Professor AnnaLisa Meyboom from UBC SALA, will hold a technical workshop on robotic fabrication in collaboration with UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP). While many industries have made leaps and bounds in adopting highly flexible and fully automated fabrication workflows using robotics, the construction and design industry are only just starting to open the door to these technologies. Recent developments in robotics combined with more accessible design-to-fabrication tools can now offer architects, designers and fabricators unprecedented access to a new design paradigm. We are pleased to welcome two experts to share their knowledge and experience with students and practicing architects here at UBC. Using a state-of-the-art eight-axis industrial robotic work cell in the CAWP pilot manufacturing pilot, the workshop will guide participants through the unique technical and conceptual foundations that underpin robotic milling in wood through the development and construction of a full-scale fabrication project.
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The workshop is structured as a five-day intensive with an in class session on Saturday with introduction to robotic fabrication, robot orientation, followed by a parametric design, FEM engineering design and fabrication session on Sunday and then hands-on fabrication session the following three days.
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British Columbia Timber Building Tour
The Centre for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is pleased to announce the British Columbia Timber Building and Technical Tour to showcase leading manufacturers of mass-timber building components, prefabricated energy efficient homes, and modular building systems fabricators.
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The UBC CAWP has been leading tours to Europe for over 15 years. This tour is an opportunity for participants to visit some of BC’s leading mass-timber building component and prefabricated building systems manufacturers, many of whom have attended our past tours to Europe and have adopted and implemented principles and technologies into their manufacturing practices.
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These companies provide building solutions to meet the sustainability and green building requirements of advanced energy efficient materials, and mass-timber products for single family, multi-family, and non-residential construction.
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Are you looking to hire someone? Do you have a new position opening up at your company? Let us know, and we can make a posting here to share it with our readers.
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Expanding Connections Across BC
TWIG is always looking to grow—through regional networks, project tours, new partnerships, and collaborations that support BC’s evolving wood industry. While we currently operate in Squamish, Victoria, and Vancouver, we’re eager to connect with individuals and organizations in other regions—from the Interior to Northern BC, the Sunshine Coast, and beyond—who want to help shape the future of wood innovation where they live and work.
If you're in the industry and want to host an event at your space, talk about a product or service we can help make that happen.
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Whether you’re interested in hosting events, organizing tours, sharing your work, or building community through shared goals, we’d love to hear from you.
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Contact us at info@twigbc.ca and let’s explore what’s possible together.
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Donate to TWIG
At TWIG, we believe the best connections happen informally—and that innovation grows when new relationships are formed. That’s why we keep some of our events free, open, and easy to join.
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To keep this going—and for our funding model to work—we rely on financial contributions from the industry. Your support not only keeps the wheels turning but also shows that the work we do matters.
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If TWIG has offered you connections, inspiration, or opportunities, we invite you to show your support. Every contribution makes a difference.
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Got an idea? Need some Testing?
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Do you have a concept, product, or prototype that you want to realize? TWIG can work with you to make this happen with financial support through The Wood First Program. Carried out through the Center for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP) and its team of technical staff, we are able to provide an array of support on various wood-based projects.
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