Everything wood

Learn to design & build with wood — 100% FREE

The Wood App is South Africa's leading educational platform for the design and use of timber products. We offer free online courses and host in-person workshops around the country.

Online courses are open to every wood user and designer. In-person workshops are CPD accredited for architects.

Explore the courses → 2026/27 workshop dates

11Free online courses

CPDAccredited workshops

100%Free, no sign-up fee

SUStellenbosch University

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Why The Wood App

Built to grow a South African wood building culture

Wood from sustainable forests stores carbon for its lifetime. Knowing how to design and build with it well is how that potential gets used.

Vision

To inspire and support local developers, designers, contractors and DIY'ers to use wood.

Mission

To offer relevant, accessible, and practical information on the use of wood in constructions in South Africa.

Aim

To guide designers towards local wood standards, materials and best practice.

11Courses

60+Video lessons

23Industry resources

PDFCertificate on completion

Free online courses

Pick a course and start right now

Every course is free, self-paced and ends with a short quiz. Pass it and your certificate is generated and emailed to you automatically.

1Most popular

Timber Frame Building in South Africa The flagship course — the complete picture of timber frame construction in a South African context, from foundations and framing through to cladding, services and finishes. Start the course

Stress Graded Timber Grading rules, stress grades and what the marks on the timber actually mean. Go

Timber Deck Building Designing and building a timber deck that lasts — substructure, fixings and detailing. Go

Specifying Timber Products for Exterior Application Choosing and specifying the right treated product for the right exposure. Go

Timber in Fire How timber behaves in a fire, charring rates and designing for fire resistance. Go

Wooden Flooring Floor types, substrates, installation and the moisture rules that decide success. Go

Wooden Poles Pole structures, treatment classes and durability in ground contact. Go

Sound Control in Timber Buildings Airborne and impact sound, and the detailing that keeps neighbours happy. Go

Structural Engineering of CLT in South Africa Cross laminated timber from the engineer's side — properties, spans and connections. Go

CLT Design & Construction Designing and building with CLT panels, from panel layout to site assembly. Go

Integrating Sustainability Into Design Using Wood Carbon, life cycle thinking and how wood changes a building's footprint. Go

In-person workshops

Come and build with us

Hands-on workshops around South Africa, CPD accredited for architects.

2026/27 workshop dates

Enter your email address and we'll send you the full 2026/27 workshop schedule with all the dates and venues.

CPD accredited for registered architects
Hands-on — real timber, real detailing, real questions
Venues nationwide across South Africa

The Wood App 2026/27 workshop schedule — Timber Frame & Mass Timber Construction one day workshop

2026/27 dates at a glance

One day workshop	Presenter	Date	Venue	Cost / pp	Brief
Timber Frame Building	Pieter Silberbauer, Werner Slabbert & Michael Kloos	25 Mar 2026 14 Sep 2026	Stellenbosch PTA	950	SA timber frame building design and construction (How To)
Deck building	Barry Muller	15 Sep 2027	PTA	950	SA deck building design and construction (How To)
Wooden poles	Richard Muller	15 Sep 2027	PTA	950	Wooden pole use and specification in SA
CLT design & construction	Jamie Smiley / Christo vd Hoven	3 June 2027	KZN	950	CLT design & construction How-To's in SA
CLT engineering	Michael Kloos	3 June 2027	KZN	950	CLT structural engineering in SA
Stress graded timber	Brand Wessels	26 Aug 2027	Nelspruit	950	Understanding structural graded timber in SA
Timber Frame Building	Werner Slabbert	26 Aug 2027	Nelspruit	950	SA timber frame building design and construction (How To)

The Cape Institute for Architecture will assess these Category One CPD Activities. Each workshop carries a minimum of 1 CPD point. Dates are subject to change — the emailed PDF is always the current version. For enquiries contact Philip Crafford at pcrafford@sun.ac.za.

About us

Wood is a climate tool — if we build with it properly

The construction and operation of buildings are responsible for more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Trees remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and fix the carbon as wood in its stem while releasing O₂ back into the atmosphere.

The Wood App was initiated to help support the growth and development of a South African wood building culture through online educational resources, coordinated by the Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University.

Read our story → Industry links & codes

Get in touch

Contact us

Questions, suggestions, or ready to complete a certificate test? We'd love to hear from you.

Call

+27 21 808 9237

Email

info@thewoodapp.com

Address

Paul Sauer Building, Bosman St,
Stellenbosch Central, Stellenbosch,
7599, South Africa