Sustainability to Climate & Protection in Mass Timber

Boudewijn Thomas | Associate, Climate Lead, and Operational Manager at MVRDV

Title: From Sustainability to Climate: an evolution of MVRDV's toolkit to Paris Proof design.

Learning Outcomes:

• How to assess where you are on your journey to sustainability
• How to push yourselves and your clients to deliver Paris-proof projects
• How to select the tools you need in sustainable design

BIO: Boudewijn is an Associate, Climate Lead, and Operational Manager at MVRDV NEXT, the practice’s R&D team. He currently leads the climate team, focusing on creating measurable, immediate impacts that support MVRDV’s climate goals across its projects.

One of Boudewijn’s standout contributions includes his work on the Valley project in Amsterdam, where he led the automated design of over 40,000 tiles across a 10,000 m² complex façade, achieving remarkable speed, precision, and efficiency.

His career spans international experience at architecture firms in China and New Zealand. Known for his deep expertise, personal approach, and optimism, Boudewijn inspires and empowers others to take meaningful steps toward positive change.

Felix Scheibmair | Rothoblaas

Talk topic: The talk was to be around Building in mass timber and the importance of moisture management - am happy to take input to make it interesting to your target audience.

At the moment there is significant discussion in the field around moisture on site, the affects on connections and how this should be mitigated during construction. We can also look at adhesive membranes, their advantages and why an architect might consider different membrane types (microporous vs monolithis) and what this means for cost etc.

BIO: Felix has a background in structural engineering and business, having completed a PhD in Structural Engineering and a Masters in Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship at the Auckland University. In his current role as Managing Director for Rotho Blaas New Zealand Felix combines technical expertise with a passion for problem solving, innovation and commercial acumen.

Felix is particularly focused on advancing the use of timber in modern construction and enjoys pushing the Rotho Blaas team to provide solutions to projects that prioritize the use of timber while ensuring better outcomes for the environment and the client.