WoodSolutions Timber Talks

Insurance plays a critical role for any construction project. It particularly plays a key role in the adoption of mass timber systems in mid-rise and high-rise development. In this episode we're lucky to be speaking with Jacob Concannon a Vice President at Gallagher, who are a global insurance broker who are creating awareness and education about mass timber through the insurance sector. In this e...

As our buildings are improving in energy efficiency, good envelope design is as important as it has ever been. For a successful holistic design there is a host of items that designers need to consider, that sometimes comes with tradeoffs. In this episode we're speaking to Mark Dewsbury a Lecturer of Architecture and Design at The University of Tasmania about: How our buildings have been improving...

Eric Tweedle Stadium is a new sports facility, consisting of mass timber with 9.5m cantilevers. This new state-of-the-art community sports pavilion is home to the first-grade Two Blues Rugby Union team, with seating for 750 spectators, and is the first mass-timber framed grandstand structure in Australia. The project won the 2021 Timber Design Award amongst strong competition. In this episode we'r...

Industrialised construction encompasses a shift towards of commodisation of construction products and manufacturing processes whilst maintaining architectural intent and flexibility. This has the potential to improve productivity and enable decarbonisation whilst improving the sector's profit margins. In this episode we're speaking with Allan Chalmers (Industrialised Technical Specialist) and Ryan...

Engineered timber construction systems are rapidly growing in popularity. With specifiers and developers selecting timber solutions for their triple bottom line benefits, it has never been more important for the cost consulting industry to understand the products available and their cost implications. In this episode we're speaking with Barry Lynch and Eoin McLoughlin from Logic Group about: The e...

The National Construction Code is Australia's primary set of technical design and construction provisions for buildings. The code has a long complex history, and understanding it is critical to building to an acceptable level of quality and ensure safety. Understanding the compliance pathways is critical for successful timber buildings. And today, we're speaking with Andrew Dunn the CEO of the Tim...

William Perkins High School consists of a significant quantity of exposed wooden structures, enabling the benefits of biophilia for the students and building occupants. Education buildings have the unique challenges, when trying to build in the short windows that sit between teaching periods. Within these windows the building was constructed with an innovative team and creative engineers. In this...

Architects are looking to expose wood as much as possible, in order to demonstrate the benefits of sustainability and enable the advantages of biophilia. However, when exposing timber a good understanding of both the fire resistance level of the building elements, and the dynamics of the fuel load are critical to understand. Recent research has unveiled new insights into the safe exposure of wood,...

The New Academic Building is a transformative project for Murdoch University and for the national Higher Education sector more broadly. The project consists of a unique timber structure, over 130 meters long and comprised of four storeys. In this episode we're speaking with the project team; Edward Berry the Architect from Lyons, Jamie Cook the builder from Multiplex, Pratik Shrestha the Engineer...

As our buildings are becoming more operationally efficient, the impacts that are coming from our materials are growing proportionally. Materials make up a significant portion of the greenhouse gas emissions in our buildings. If the government and private companies are going to achieve their goals, it's a problem that needs to be solved. In this episode we're lucky to be speaking with Ann Austin, t...

Recently, the popularity has been increasing around mid-rise timber buildings. Having fully exposed structures has made a lot of sense at a certain height. However, we can only unlock the use of timber in high-rise buildings if it is combined with steel and concrete, with consideration of fire, acoustics and structural performance. In this episode we're speaking with Nick Hewson, Product Developme...

Scion Innovation Building, is a Crown Research Institute that specialises in technology development for the forestry industry. The building is a cutting edge showcase for engineered timber, not only in terms of aesthetic but what it contributes to a zero carbon future. A highlight is the peaks in glulam timber standing tall at the entrance. The list of international awards the building has won is...

Carved from robust engineered timber and clad in high-performance glass, The Bond is a state-of-the-art building represents the future of office design, with 7-storeys of mass timber glulam frame supporting Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) floor and roof panels. In this episode we're speaking with the Jessica Rodham, the Project Architect from Fitzpatrick and Partners about the reasons behind choosing...

Prefabricated timber buildings can be much faster than traditional construction, only if the rate of installation is optimised for. Unfortunately, sometimes the installation is an afterthought, and the original promises of significant program savings can quickly fade away. Here, the installers perspective is critical to enable fast construction. In this episode we're speaking with Chris Wood the G...

Offsite construction is still in its infancy and is currently in the process of scaling up. The benefits in terms of speed on productivity are well known, however, there are benefits that come far beyond that. Mirvac, one of Australia's largest builders is leading the way in this space, and today we get to speak with David Haller the National Operations Manager about: The journey of Mirvac into of...

The Sara Cultural Centre is one of the world's tallest timber buildings. The 20 storey award winning project, designed by White Arkitekter is constructed largely from timber in local forests, contributing to sustainability in terms of the building and its content. Built from a combination of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam), the project in Skellefteå includes a thea...

Building physics is often underappreciated, despite being critical for safe and healthy buildings. Although most of us aren't taught at universities, it is increasingly important and now included in our building codes. In today's episode we're speaking with Darren O'Dea, co-founder and Director of Speckel ( www.speckel.io ) about: The fundamentals of building physics How to successfully model for...

As we're continuing to innovate and build taller timber buildings, the installation process is sometimes an afterthought. With good planning, the installation can be de-risked and improve the overall program. In this episode, we're speaking with Lincoln Ladds who is an Associate Engineer at TTW about: The challenges around mixing materials on a project The temporary works design considerations And...

As the digital revolution continues along, the construction industry is adopting new processes. At the center of all this is building information modelling, which includes a whole ecosystem of plugins that can solve unique problems. In this episode we're speaking with Virginia Senf from UNIFI Labs about: How to minimize digital waste, How to improve current workflows using BIM, Reducing friction i...

The current status quo is to apply the concept of 'sustainability' to the discourse of our actions in planning, design, development, manufacturing, and construction, even agriculture and forestry. However, sustainability may not be enough, as to 'sustain' is still part of a degenerating system – we need to go beyond sustainability to move from a degenerative system to a regenerative system. Regene...

In construction, there is a plethora of disruptive technologies that can be used to change the way we design, model and build. New disruptive technologies means new opportunities, and perhaps none mores than the productisation of construction. Today we're lucky to be speaking with Amy Marks VP Industrialised Construction Strategy, or better known as the Queen of Prefab about: The shift to producti...

Recently, new products have come onto the market and have enabled designers to change the way we build. Engineers have new tools in the kit, which are going to be vital as we approach net zero. Andrew Lawrence is Arup's global timber specialist, and in this episode we discuss: How timber is changing the way we build Using timber to enhance seismic performance Using timber alongside other hybrid ma...

If you've never visited a sawmill before, you'll be surprised about how much happens behind the scenes in turning a log into a product. The timber supply chain has continually found new ways to improve the utilisation fo feedstock and forest value by creating new products. In this episode we're speaking with Dave Gover, the GM of R&D at AKD about: The story of what happens behind the scenes in tur...

In order to achieve zero carbon goals, we need to measure both operational and embodied carbon impacts, for short and tall buildings. Different densities indeed pose different challenges. In this episode we're speaking with Philip Oldfield (Associate Professor at UNSW) about: — the challenges for sustainability in high-rise and mid-rise buildings What are the solutions on offer to reduce embodied...

The productisation of construction is changing design and delivery models for our buildings. By using data to generate designs, buildings can be delivered faster with cost savings and cost certainty. In this episode, we speak with Paul Wintour, Founder of Parametric Monkey about: The inputs that can be optimised for in design The right business models to capitalise on the changes The development o...