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Melbourne’s sustainable development requires urban infill, especially less intrusive mid-rise buildings and vertical extensions, which often provide the best value: location, floorplans, views, acoustic and thermal efficiency… but also a quick delivery and an easier customization can make a difference.

Considering the new Better Apartment Design Standards, how is it possible to get “more from less” in this boosting yet highly competitive market?

Timber structures are the answer: an increasing body of experiences, in Australia and abroad, demonstrates the advantages that building with Engineered Wood Products provide to both developers and clients.

On the “MORE” side of the equation, the most relevant feature is speed, through improved safety during construction and easier off-site prefabrication of components. The building process is much faster than with concrete and crews work quicker on site because they feel safer, assembling lighter components with tighter tolerances, simple connection technologies and small tools.

An outstanding example is the ten storey residential development at Banyan Wharf, London from Hawkins\Brown architects comprising 50 apartments - all sold off plan, together with 1,190 square metres of commercial units.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/fig_1_0.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Banyan Wharf, London. Image Tim Crocker"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="384" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/fig_1_0.png?itok=CJiwvmS8" title="Banyan Wharf, London. Image Tim Crocker" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Banyan Wharf, London. Image Tim Crocker</figcaption></figure>Complete use of CLT was not a necessity for the structure and using stud partitioning for some internal walls has permitted future owners the option of reconfiguring their apartments in due course, if required.

The main benefit of timber construction was cost and programme certainty: a reduction in lifting works which helped with site restrictions, start of follow on trades work on the lower floors whilst the structure for the upper storeys was in construction, and most importantly just in time deliveries, as there was only room for a single trailer or van.

In the National Construction Code, timber structures are considered very safe for fire risks because, additionally to the first line of defence (sprinklers, encapsulation, non-combustible insulation and cavity barriers), they provide a highly predictable behaviour and additional safety from slow charring, thus allowing to reduce the wall thicknesses and maximise the living space. See specific technical information <a href="https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Articles/Resources/Mid-Rise-Timber-Buildings-Design-Guides">here</a>.

The durability specifications attribute the higher risk to the corrosion of steel components, rather than to wood borers or rot, when design and execution are correct. Perry House, a timber structure with masonry façade built in 1913 in Brisbane and currently used as an hotel, proves that wood can be very durable even in a semi-tropical climate.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/fig_2.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Perry House, Brisbane. Image Wood Solutions"><img alt="" class="image-article-half-width-290px" height="383" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_half_width_290px/public/pictures/article-images/fig_2.png?itok=KTUFKTjy" title="Perry House, Brisbane. Image Wood Solutions" width="290"></a>

<figcaption>Perry House, Brisbane. Image Wood Solutions</figcaption></figure>Information from both historical performance records, extensive laboratory research, and field experience was used to develop a probabilistic durability design method, described in <a href="http://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Articles/Resources/Timber-Service-life-design">WoodSolution’s guide</a> to assists specifiers in the selection of products and designs with respect to service life requirements.

Moreover, as timber structures are very ductile, achieving full safety with respect to high wind and earthquake events is easier and more cost-effective than with brittle concrete-based products.

Considering now the “LESS” side of the equation, a factor with paramount importance for developers and builders is the significant reduction of preliminaries (foundations, cranes, scaffolding, stock of materials…) and of follow-up trades (plumbing, electrical, finishes…), both in terms of costs and times. With the same quality, or better.

As an example, the 10-storey, 121-unit development at Dalston Lane in London, weighing a fifth of a concrete building of its size, allowed reducing the whole construction costs by 15 percent, mostly from smaller foundations, and the addition of two stories of accommodation (15 apartments), with respect to the reinforced concrete option.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/fgig_3.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Dalston Lane, London. Image Waugh Thistleton"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="523" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/fgig_3.jpg?itok=UmOhF3WH" title="Dalston Lane, London. Image Waugh Thistleton" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Dalston Lane, London. Image Waugh Thistleton </figcaption></figure>Also, the number of truck deliveries during site works was 80 per cent lower, resulting in minimum disturbance to the neighbourhood. The architect, Andrew Waugh, reported his experiences on this and other timber buildings he designed within <a href="https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Resources/Seminars-Presentations/">our seminar</a>, along with architect Jonathan Evans from Tzannes, who discussed the benefits of using timber for the 7-storey International House Sydney.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/fig_4_0.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="International House, Sydney. Image Tzannes"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="293" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/fig_4_0.jpg?itok=NyHiQrrq" title="International House, Sydney. Image Tzannes" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>International House, Sydney. Image Tzannes</figcaption></figure>A design based on Engineered Wood Products, both framed and/or massive, provides a more efficient and less costly solution for mid-rise residential construction: in a number of mid-rise projects we are currently advising for, the cost benefit ranges from 4-15% and the program shortening is typically 4-6 months. With tighter tolerances and easy, accurate assembly which can be managed by ordinarily-skilled crews. In other terms: more performances and less variations.

Last but not least, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://planetark.org/news/display/893">a report from Planet Ark</a> shows that “more from less” means also achieving all the environmental advantages of a sustainable, certified and fully renewable resource with unique beneficial effects on occupant’s health and indoor air quality.

<a href="https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Articles/Resources/Mid-Rise-Timber-Resources">WoodSolutions’ free advisory program</a> is providing inspiration, evidence of suitability and design resources to interested building professionals, with no reference to product brands and the only aim to disseminate technical information applicable to mid-rise projects.

Last but not least, the Victorian supply chain is efficient and ready to support the forecasted growth.

More from less? Yes, it’s happening.

 

Wood Solutions is continuing with its seminar series with the latest to be held on Wednesday March 8th titled 'Discover new directions in mid-rise timber construction'; to attend, make your booking <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/woodsolutions-melbourne-seminar-the-opportunities-are-massive-tickets-31814114874">here</a>.
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PaoloL

More from less? Yes, with timber structures

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Timber mid-rise buildings are becoming the preferred choice for many stakeholders in <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/melbourne-vic">Melbourne</a>, due to a combination of factors, including cost-effectiveness, liveability, ease and efficiency of construction. Within the recent National Construction Code change, Deemed-To-Satisfy provisions allow mid-rise timber construction for buildings up to 25 metres “effective height” (typically, eight storeys).

The population of Melbourne is growing at the rate of 100,000 a year and maintaining the city’s reputation as one of the world’s most liveable will require urban infill, with an emphasis on less intrusive mid-rise solutions. In this sector, timber has a lot to offer: an increasing body of evidence points to the advantages timber buildings can provide to their occupants, while also offering the environmental benefits of a sustainable, renewable building material with a low carbon footprint.

However, it’s when quality and cost are taken into account that property developers become interested. Typically, the cost benefits of timber construction come from a combination of factors, including reduced preliminaries, direct material savings, easier off-site prefabrication, fewer variations and a simpler execution of follow-up trades, as demonstrated by a range of successful projects.

Most design and construction professionals in Melbourne know about <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/lendlease">Lend Lease’s</a> Forté Living apartments (Figure 1), completed in 2012. This Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) project delivered a 30% reduction in the overall time scheduled for an equivalent concrete-based program and was erected by a crew of only four carpenters and an operator for a small remote control crane. Based on the success of Forté, Lend Lease have several similar developments currently underway in Australia and more planned globally.

Another remarkable result was achieved by <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/australand-property-group">Australand</a> in 2015 with The Green (Figure 2), on the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/tullamarine-vic">Tullamarine</a> Freeway. This is a five-storey residential building based on traditional lightweight timber framed walls and pre-fabricated composite cassette floor elements. The Green delivered an overall saving of 25% in construction costs, compared to another building with equivalent performance specifications and finishes that Australand completed soon after.

The major difference came from preliminaries (crane, scaffolding, site storage space, etc.) due to the reduced construction time and weights of unit components.

Currently, <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/sydney-nsw">Sydney’s</a> Strongbuild are achieving significant time and cost efficiencies in a large CLT social housing project (Figure 3) with respect to the conditions they offered to win the tender. Having almost completed the six-storey and the seven-storey parts of the three-building, 101-apartment complex, they are already 3 months ahead of schedule, mostly because they did not have any significant variations so far.

This is a relevant feature of timber construction: even a low level of off-site prefabrication can significantly improve accuracy, resulting in easier and quicker installation sequences, with fewer delays, minimum corrections and material waste.

Engineered wood products can also provide cost-effective elements for equivalent performances in a direct comparison, as it was the case for a 140-apartment development in Milan, Italy (Figure 4) delivered in 2011. This project, which features a flexible floorplan layout, optimising the mix of dwelling typologies and building services locations, dictated a structure which was 19% cheaper to erect in timber than in concrete. It effectively opened the path to a “cultural shock” for Italian building industry, resulting in several similar projects in the following years.

Updating a feasibility study after the code change, an independent quantity surveyor (http://www.mbmpl.com.au/) conservatively calculated a benefit of 10% for light frame timber construction in comparison to concrete for the building described in Figure 5.

Cost efficiency adds to the many environmental benefits of building with timber, a sustainable, certified and fully renewable resource, allowing for high thermal efficiency and distinctive beneficial effects on acoustics and indoor air quality, as summarised in a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://planetark.org/news/display/893">Planet Ark report</a>.

Timber structures are becoming the preferred choice for mid-rise residential or commercial projects worldwide, aimed at achieving environmentally focused “green ratings” while keeping cost, delivery terms and quality within specifications. Timber construction is therefore on the rise, with an 18-storey building just completed in Vancouver, Canada (Figure 6), while projects for 30, 50 and even 80 storeys (Figure 7) are being investigated through sound design partnerships, backed by innovative builders and developers.

<a href="http://www.woodsolutions.com.au/">WoodSolutions</a>’ free advisory program, started just a few months ago, is providing inspiration, evidence of suitability and design resources to many building professionals in Victoria, with no reference to specific product brands and the only aim to disseminate technical information applicable to projects in the early stage.

Select an image below to view a larger size version in the gallery.
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Paolo Lavisci

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