WoodSolutions Timber Talks

The Seedhouse is the winner of the Timber Design Awards in 2019, and home to James Fitzpatrick, architect from Fitzpatrick and Partners. This residential home utilises the latest technologies in engineered timber construction, designed with experimentation in construction and engineering, supported by architectural vision. In this episode we discuss the story behind The Seedhouse, the construction lessons learned and cutting edge engineering for the building.

See the beautiful images and learn more about the Seedhouse:

https://www.fitzpatrickpartners.com/projects/the-seed-house/

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

New tools for design are potentially allowing us to enter an unprecedented period in construction. Parametric design tools allow for new architectural forms, robotics and 3D printing allows for new assembly, and prefabrication enables on-site productivity. Today we are speaking with Richard Maddock, an architect and computer systems engineer with Fosters and Partners. In this episode we speak about:

• The Nasa 3D Printed Habitat challenge, for building on Mars, and what learnings can be taken for design
• How new technologies such as robotics and machine learning will impact construction
• How the day to day work for building professionals might shift

Building professionals globally are turning to timber as it provides a healthier, environmentally friendly, sustainable, efficiently off-site prefabricated solution that dramatically reduces construction times and accordingly the overall cost of the project.

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Upfront carbon is increasingly in the spotlight, as operational efficiency increases. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are vital in measuring the impacts of the materials we use to arrive at the best design outcomes. Today we are speaking with Stephen Mitchell, Principle Consultant at Thinkstep ANZ and Chair of EPD Australasia. In this episode we discuss:

• The exciting developments in materials on the road to carbon neutrality
• The life cycle of a timber product
• The opportunities that designers and the supply chain have for improved sustainability in design.

An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a standardised and verified way of quantifying the environmental impacts of a product based on a consistent set of rules that have been developed through an extensive stakeholder consultation process.

The ‘industry wide’ WoodSolutions EPDs can be found at: https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/environmental-product-declarations

Technology is rapidly changing the way we design, manufacture and install our buildings. Eric Karsh is the founding partner of Equilibrium, a Katerra company, who are looking to make major changes the way we build. In this episode we have a forward thinking conversation about costing and designing projects with parametric modelling, optimisation for prefabrication and installation, and utilisation of BIM to improve the design to construction process.

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Got a Mid-rise project? The Mid-rise Advisory Team will be able to help. Get in touch with me at:

[email protected]

Arbora is the largest complex in the world, at the time of recording that is built from massive timber. The three 8 storey buildings is notable not just for its size, but its ability to be cost competitive and environmentally friendly. Today we're speaking to the Project Manager, Keven Durand from Nordic Structures in Canada about the importance for simple design, managing moisture in construction and collaborating with fire authorities for successful certification. 

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Got a Mid-rise project? The Mid-rise Advisory Team will be able to help. Get in touch with me at:

[email protected]

Architecture using timber can improve our mental well-being and sequester carbon within our buildings. Marie-France Stendahl is an architect with White Architecture and teaches Lund University in Sweden. In this episode we discuss: the concept of using architecture as medicine to heal our mental health and opportunities for using timber to sequester carbon to heal the planet.

Building professionals globally are turning to timber as it provides a healthier, environmentally friendly, sustainable, efficiently off-site prefabricated solution that dramatically reduces construction times and accordingly the overall cost of the project.

If you want to find out more about the biophilic design research, go to:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/wood-at-work

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

HoHo Vienna is the world's tallest wooden tower, standing at 24 floors and 84m in height and is a great example of how we can combine concrete and timber to achieve the best solution for mid to high-rise buildings. Richard Woschitz, of the Woschitz Group is the structural engineer for the project. Today we speak to him about the structural system and the feasibility for high-rise timber buildings, importance of including fire authorities for innovative projects and managing moisture during the construction process.

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Got a Mid-rise project? The Mid-rise Advisory Team will be able to help. Get in touch with me at:

[email protected]

The market for mid-rise timber buildings is growing at a rapid pace all around the world. Jennifer Cover is the President and CEO of WoodWorks in the USA, an organisation very similar to that of WoodSolutions here in Australia. Jennifer is involved with a large range of projects across the USA with a lot of learnings for us building professionals here in Australia. I was lucky to sit down with her to discus innovative project delivery models, when to engage with suppliers and the cost differences for timber buildings compared to traditional construction.

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Got a Mid-rise project? The Mid-rise Advisory Team will be able to help. Get in touch with me at:

[email protected]

Listening from the US? You can find support for your project from Jennifer and her team at:

woodworks.org

Sidewalk Labs are owned by Alphabet, the same organisation that owns a familiar company called Google. They combine forward thinking-urban design and cutting-edge technology to radically improve urban life around the world. They're planning to build a city out of timber as part of their Quayside development in Toronto, to get the carbon sequestration benefits and fast build times possible with timber.

Karim Khalifa is the Director of Building Innovations at Sidewalk Labs, today we speak to him about the timber buildings they're looking at - including a 35 storey proposed timber tower, how Alphabet engineers can assist in construction and about innovative fire design approaches.

To find out more about Side Walk Labs, head to:

https://www.sidewalklabs.com/

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides

Episode artwork by Sidewalk Labs

The project 752 High Street Thornburry is a 5 Storey CLT project set to start construction in October 2019. The architect and the client pursued CLT in order for it's sustainability attributes.  We're lucky to sit down with the architect, Paul Gardiner from Gardiner Architects, Nathan Benbow the engineer from Vistek and the builders Alastair Holmes and Chris Wood from Sinjen. This project has multiple challenges in design and construction that has required innovative solutions from the project team.

In part 2 of the interview we discuss:

• How to achieve efficient construction for the project
• Importance of managing moisture in design and construction
• The lessons learned from the architect, builder and engineer

Check out the WoodSolutions website, the world's biggest website on wood:

www.woodsolutions.com.au

The WS Technical Design Guide can be found here:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/mid-rise-timber-buildings-design-guides