CBS-Lifteam is an international French-Swiss group, founded in 1991, specializing in timber engineering.

History

CBS-Lifteam is a group specializing in timber building. It was founded in Lausanne in 1991 by engineer

Jean-Luc Sandoz Jean-Luc Sandoz (born 1960 in Montandon) is a French-Swiss engineer and an expert in wood construction. He is the founder of several companies in the field of engineering, industrialization, construction and expertise, all related to wood. Form ...

. The group is a pioneer in the use of all-construction methods in the bio-sourced sector. Its slogan is "More engineering, less material". The group has founded two design offices, Concept Bois Structure (CBS) in Paris and Concept Bois Technologie (CBT) in Lausanne, a wood prefabrication plant, Ecotim, created in 2005 in Savoie, and a construction supervision company, Lifteam, created in 2006.

Business structure

Technology department

CBT is the continuation of a

start-up A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend ...

company at the l'

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

(EPFL) aimed at transferring the research work carried out at the school by Jean-Luc Sandoz under the guidance of

Julius Natterer Julius Natterer, (December 5, 1938 – October 25, 2021), was a German engineer and professor of wood construction at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Career Julius Natterer studied at the Technical University of Munic ...

, who was then head of the school's wood chair, into the practical field. The company developed two devices in particular: the

Sylvatest Sylvatest is an ultrasonic measuring device that provides an overall diagnosis of a wooden component to test its mechanical strength. This is a specific non-destructive testing tool for wooden beams. Description Sylvatest is an Acoustics, aco ...

which measures the physical strength of wood using

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound with frequency, frequencies greater than 20 Hertz, kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible hearing range, limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply ...

and Polux, which assesses the reliability of wooden poles in service using hydro-densitometric measurement. These methodologies are expanding internationally.

Structures department

The group designs numerous structural concepts such as frameworks and floors like Dalle O'Portune and D-Dalle. The timber design office of excellence is an entity specializing in the design and optimization of wood construction projects. It stands out for its ability to meet the highest demands in terms of performance, durability and aesthetics, and is thus recognized for its contribution to the realization of ambitious projects in the field of timber construction. Ecotim II

Production

The Ecotim plant, implemented in La Rochette is the production facility, with a surface area of 4,900 m2.. The current building replaces a 2200 m2 facility built in 2005 and destroyed by fire in 2010. The Group also has a presence in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, where it has been constructing buildings in local tropical materials, such as for

CNES CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...

, since 2015.

Financial data and employees

Company sales were €13 million in 2018. Increased by 40% in 2019. The company had 120 employees in 2019 and at the end of 2022.

References

{{Reflist Engineering companies of Switzerland Companies based in Lausanne Timber framed buildings Construction Ultrasound Civil engineering