WoodSolutions Timber Talks

Basil Richardson is a Studio Director at Bates Smart, where he leads technical design, documentation and construction for many of the firm's large scale timber projects. In today's episode, we talk about 25 King Street, a 10 storey timber building which has just officially been completed and stands as Australia's tallest commercial office building. In this episode we discuss:

• The evolution of the floor grid, from 12x9m, 9x9 and 6x9m, and the stability system, and the corresponding thought processes behind the design process
• The fire considerations to achieve the beautiful exposed timber finish, and the floor build up required for Class 5 buildings
• The learnings and takeaways in design and construction for the project

Building professionals globally are turning to timber in mid-rise construction as it provides a healthier, environmentally friendly (carbon), 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/blog/wood-makes-more-workable-workplaces-assoc-professor-jacki-schirmer

Got a question about wood? One of the WoodSolutions technical guides should have the answer. To download your free guide, go to:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides

In part two of this two part series, we discuss: 

• How a wholistic view is the key to enabling construction gains in timber projects 
• Why the approach to timber buildings need to be designed from a first principles paradigm and the opportunities for smaller companies to come on this timber journey 

• Why Australia is in the unique position to develop a supply sustainably sourced supply chain to enable a growing market 

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

This is part one of the two part series, stay tuned for part two next week. 

If you want to use timber on your next project, there are over 45 free technical guides found at the WoodSolutions website. Technical guide 37 which focuses on the steps to deliver a mid-rise timber building is a good start. 

www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides 

Nick Milestone is the Chairman of the Timber Research Development Association, and Philipp Zumbrunnen is a director at Eurban limited, both based out of London. This is a two part series where we listen to these two world renowned international experts discuss how the mid-rise timber building market is developing, from the perspective of the United Kingdom. 

In part one of this two part series, we discuss: 

• The construction targets for the UK for 2025, and how prefabricated timber systems, integrated design and early contractor involvement can be combined to meet these goals 
• The advantages timber has with design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA) over traditional construction, and why we are on the cusp of a revolution in construction methods 
• The opportunities to stimulate manufacturing sector, and the response of timber construction workers on site 

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

This is part one of the two part series, stay tuned for part two next week. 

If you want to use timber on your next project, there are over 45 free technical guides found at the WoodSolutions website. Technical guide 37 which focuses on the steps to deliver a mid-rise timber building is a good start. 

www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides 

Jonathan Evans is a partner at Tzannes, who was previously the lead architect on International House in Sydney, a 7 Storey commercial office building designed for Lendlease, which previously won the Australian Timber Design Award 2017; and Karl-Heinz Weiss, an engineer and the general manager for DesignMake at Lendlease, who has extensive experience he is bringing to Australia, working on projects like K5, the world's largest engineered timber office building in Brisbane, and a proposed major redevelopment at Collins Wharf in Melbourne. 

Jonathan and Karl-Heinz are teaming up together for their next project, C1 in Barangaroo which is being called 'The Big Sister' of International House, which is also 7 storeys, but have decided to continue to push the boundaries, by increasing the floor spans by a further 50%. 

In part two of this discussion, we cover: 

• How to break new ground and innovate in both engineering and architecture 

• The lessons learned from previous projects, to be taken into C1 
• The flow from digital work flow, to physical prefabrication and then to construction of building elements 
• The importance of sustainability and reducing embodied carbon in our buildings 

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

If you want to use timber on your next mid-rise project, the WoodSolutions mid-rise team can help with free professional advice. You can contact me directly at: 

 [email protected], 

 and I will put you in touch with the right team member. 

Or, the 46 free technical guides found at the WoodSolutions website. Technical guide 37 which focuses on the steps to deliver a mid-rise timber building is a good start. 

www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides 

Jonathan Evans is a partner at Tzannes, who was previously the lead architect on International House in Sydney, a 7 storey commercial office building designed for Lendlease, which previously won the Australian Timber Design Award 2017; and Karl-Heinz Weiss, an engineer and the general manager for DesignMake at Lendlease, who has extensive experience he is bringing to Australia, working on projects like K5, the world's largest engineered timber office building in Brisbane, and a proposed major redevelopment at Collins Wharf in Melbourne.

In Part A of this discussion, we cover:

• How timber stacks up, cost wise with traditional construction
• The response of tenants in constructed timber buildings, like International House in Sydney
• The psychological and health effects of exposed timber, and opportunities in educational and office buildings

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

If you want to use timber on your next mid-rise project, the WoodSolutions mid-rise team can help with free professional advice. You can contact me directly at:

 [email protected],

 and I will put you in touch with the right team member.

Or, the 44 free technical guides found at the WoodSolutions website. Technical guide 37 which focuses on the steps to deliver a mid-rise timber building is a good start.

www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides

Today we are speaking with Caroline Pidcock all about biophilic design, also known as designing in accordance with nature. Her practice has been inspired by the possibilities of creating desirable places, that are sustainable for the planet and enhance people's wellbeing. After 25 years of running her own residential practice she is focusing on how to strategically accelerate the uptake of sustainable ideas.    

 Connection to nature is essential to wellbeing - yet past design practices in urbanization have led more to a detachment from the natural world. In this episode, we discuss:

• Opportunities to reconnect with Nature through the built environment
• The latest research that supports biophilic design principles
• The 14 patterns of biophilic design, as described by Terrapin

New research, funded by FWPA, produced by Pollinate and peer reviewed by Jacki Schirmer of university of Canberra was launched last week at the 2018 Green Cities Conference, has revealed that buildings designed on biophilic principles, including natural looking wooden surfaces in the workplace, are strongly associated with increased employee well-being and satisfaction; in turn enhancing engagement, creativity, innovation, retention and wellness - and all of which leads to improvements in productivity and personal and business success.

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

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/blog/wood-makes-more-workable-workplaces-assoc-professor-jacki-schirmer

Got a question about wood? One of the WoodSolutions technical guides should have the answer. To download your free guide, go to:

https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides

Adam Strong is Managing Director at Strongbuild, a Sydney-based company specialising in streamlined building systems and sustainable resources with a focus on the design and delivery of multi-residential, aged-care and retirement living projects. One of the advantages of timber, is it's ability to enable prefabrication for a building to simultaneously improve quality, price and program for a project.  In this interview with Adam we discuss: 

• How stepping back in the supply chain has given Strongbuild the control to produce higher quality offsite, enable higher productivity onsite and push innovation 
• Why early contractor involvement is key to unlocking all of the productivity benefits for timber construction 
• Why design, detailing and logistics are fundamentals for a successful prefabricated project 

Building professionals globally are turning to timber in mid-rise construction as it provides a healthier, environmentally friendly (carbon), 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 Strongbuild, go to: 

www.strongbuild.com.au/ 

If you want to use timber on your next project, there are over 45 free technical guides found at the WoodSolutions website. Technical guide 37 which focuses on the steps to deliver a mid-rise timber building is a good start. 

www.woodsolutions.com.au/articles/technical-design-guides