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COLAB 2019 + NZ’S BID TO BOOST MID-RISE TIMBER

NZ IS GEARING UP FOR PREFABNZ’S ANNUAL COLAB EVENT WHERE INDUSTRY IS PICKING UP THE PACE AND GETTING OUT IN FRONT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT ELLERSLIE RACECOURSE IN AUCKLAND ON 13-15 MARCH, WRITES PREFABNZ CEO PAMELA BELL.

CoLab will focus on bringing the ‘how’ of prefab to life through site visits, action-focused seminars and handson interactive workshops. A focus will be mid-rise timber construction, part of a suite of offsite manufacturing technologies that will enable the delivery of affordable housing for the government’s KiwiBuild and social housing programs at scale and at pace over the coming years. A mid-rise building is deemed to be four to 12 storeys.

New Zealand’s central government Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), which looks after forestry, has approved the ‘Mid-rise Wood Construction Primary Growth Partnership’ (PGP) with PrefabNZ Member Red Stag Investments.

The four-year $5M NZD program aims to boost mid-rise timber building construction, by using local engineered and panelised framing timber to deliver a range of regional, social, environmental and other benefits. It also aims to boost collaboration across New Zealand’s engineered timber construction industry, by sharing the insights, lessons and information it develops in an industry-first open-source manner.

“The four-year $5M NZD program aims to boost mid-rise timber building construction, by using local engineered and panelised framing timber to deliver a range of regional, social, environmental and other benefits. It also aims to boost collaboration across New Zealand’s engineered timber construction industry, by sharing the insights, lessons and information it develops in an industry-first open-source manner.” Pamela Bell, CEO, PrefabNZ.

PGP PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Red Stag Investments PGP project will be located at Clearwater in Christchurch; overlooking the lake and the Clearwater Golf Course. Red Stag will design and build two mid-rise wooden buildings to showcase engineered timber construction and to act as reference sites and inform case studies. The first will be a five-level apartment development – the Clearwater Quays (cqa.co.nz) with construction starting in 2019.

The project will be constructed from a hybrid timber solution which will incorporate Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Glue Laminated Timber (GLT) and stick panelisation. CLT will be used for walls, stairs, and balloon framing/stair wells/lift shafts and shear/bracing plains. GLT will be used for portal openings and stick panelisation for internal walls; where bracing and load bearing requirements are suitable.

“Combining Cross Laminated Timber [CLT], glulam and panelised framing timber is a cost- effective, fast, resilient and sustainable system for mid-rise construction, says Red Stag Group Chief Executive Officer Marty Verry.

“Aside from its natural beauty, engineered timber provides a very strong, low carbon and comparably low-cost alternative to steel and concrete. It’s easier to transport, relatively light and has outstanding earthquake and fire resilience. The use of prefabrication can speed up construction by as much as 30% and reduce cost to help meet New Zealand’s acute need for more accommodation.

A STAGED APPROACH
Red Stag Investments is contributing $3M NZD (60%) and MPI is contributing $2M NZD (40%) over the four-year term. The program projects to deliver economic benefits of $155M NZD by 2023 and $330M NZD by 2036, driven by a 10% lift by 2023 in the wood construction industry’s market share across the multi-unit residential and non-residential market. The program will be delivered through three interrelated project stages across building, documenting and promoting.

OPEN SOURCE BENEFITS FOR ALL
All architectural, engineering (civil, structural, fire, acoustic, etc.), QS and economic analysis will be open-sourced to the market as part of the second stage of the program. MPI and Red Stag will retain ownership of one of the housing units in order to test, review and analyse results. The entire process will be transparent in order to showcase the design, supply chain, construction methodologies, timelines and economic analysis.

Red Stag Investments’ Clearwater Quays Apartments showcase engineered mass timber in mid-rise buildings.
Red Stag Investments’ Clearwater Quays Apartments showcase engineered mass timber in mid-rise buildings.
Red Stag Investments’ Clearwater Quays Apartments showcase engineered mass timber in mid-rise buildings.
Red Stag Investments’ Clearwater Quays Apartments showcase engineered mass timber in mid-rise buildings.

 

The PGP program’s third stage will assemble a pool of local professionals who are experienced in mid-rise wood building design and construction called the ‘Collective of Excellence’ (CoE). This group will help share and grow knowledge and expertise within the broader industry.

Construction costs associated with the program will be covered by Red Stag. MPI’s investment, provided through the PGP, will contribute to other aspects of the program such as design, collating and sharing information, and establishing the CoE.

Steve Penno, Director Investment Programmes at MPI, says, “Benefits from the Mid-rise Wood Construction PGP program will be felt beyond the co-investors. It aims to substantially increase demand for engineered wood products in buildings, which will have associated flow-on benefits across the entire supply chain.

Red Stag Group CEO Marty Verry says, “Through our PGP program, we want to create a wider understanding to double demand for engineered and panelised wood products in New Zealand buildings, and develop domestic manufacturing capacity.”

LEARNING FROM ABROAD
NZ has much to learn from other timber-based construction industries, such as Scotland’s Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC). Lucy Black, Head of Business Relationships, will lead a session at CoLab on how the CSIC is pioneering transformational change by connecting government, public sector, university, colleges and local industry. CSIC is home to a unique Innovation Factory, providing access to leading edge robotics, automation, CLT and AR/VR equipment, an offsite manufacturing line, and the UK’s first digital manufacturing, prototyping and future skills ‘Centre of Excellence’ for the construction sector. (See more about Lucy Black here)

LEARNING AT COLAB
CoLab 2019 is the place to go to get equipped with the skills and support to get out of the stalls, into the starting gates and towards the finish line as a race leader. (See PrefabNZ CoLab 2019) ■

 

Pamela Bell PrefabNZ CEO

 

 

 

 


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