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Innovation and sustainability converge in Grange Development’s newly approved 51-storey South Perth hybrid timber tower.
After enduring years of meticulous planning, negotiations, and redesigns, the proposal to construct the highest hybrid timber tower globally in Perth has finally received the green light. Grange Developments’ 51-storey timber residential tower encountered numerous obstacles, facing rejection by the City of South Perth and the State Design Review Panel.
James Dibble, the Managing Director of Grange Development, was evidently relieved when the approval for his $350-million carbon-negative timber tower was finalised. Dibble stated that the project had met with “unparalleled resistance” from planning authorities in Western Australia.
Support for the project was unanimous after comprehensive presentations by James Dibble, Managing Director of Grange Development, Urbanista town planner Bianca Sandri, Elenberg Fraser’s Reade Dixon, along with representatives from the State Design Review Panel and the City of South Perth.
Built Offsite interviewed Dr David Bylund, mass timber architectural specialist, about his involvement in Grange Developments’ C6 mass timber tower:
Dr David Bylund, timber advisor for Grange Developments’ South Perth C6 development, recently spoke with Michael Dolphin, publisher of Built Offsite about balancing innovation, sustainability, and a property developer who’s embracing the future of construction.
A fortunate meeting can occasionally result in big ideas and big outcomes, and Dr David Bylund, already established as one of Australia’s leading thinkers in novel mass timber-based architectural solutions, met with James Dibble, Managing Director of Ballarat-based Grange Development.
Over the course of their meetings, a conversation emerged, “that James had a real passion, a real hunger for opportunities to insert timber in a structurally meaningful way into their South Perth C6 development.”
David’s role in C6 was to facilitate a timber-rich solution, and it’s a multi-faceted role.
He came on board before the architects were appointed, and has been engaged since the early days of the project two years ago.
“Where I am involved in the [architectural] design, it’s focussed on tactical solutions. I’m not involved directly in the architectural process, however some of the decisions the team makes definitely affect the architectural usage of mass timber; span, depth of beams and the height of building.”
Although Grange Development have completed several innovative tall projects, C6 represented an opportunity to minimise its environmental impact, and mass timber in collaboration with steel and concrete presents a vision to achieve this.
On his early meetings with James to discuss mass timber, David remarked, “He very much had an open mind, what is this stuff, what is its role, where is it being used and where are the opportunities?”
In many respects, the scene was set for what will be one of Australia’s most innovative tall mass timber buildings that captures the tenacity and vision of a property developer and the industry know-how of a mass timber building specialist who’s prepared to innovate and push boundaries.
Environmental Impact
Minimising environmental impact is a key consideration for the project, and they were also looking for a solution that aligned with market expectations around amenity and aesthetics, but just didn’t adhere to conventional building methodologies.
“Don’t assume that we do things today the way that we’ve always done them yesterday. From a first principles basis, there’s nothing in this project that isn’t doing a job. Everything has to be justified. We are just not putting wood in the wood’s sake, we are not putting in concrete for concrete’s sake, and we’re not putting in steel or steel’s sake.
“We are applying each material as best as we can based on the site, the planning regulations, the architectural position, the supply chain and the capacity to build; so, all of these things have been considered. In effect, it’s a tactical response that’s delivering architectural form,” said David.
The building’s carbon debt is also part of the conversation. Grange Developments also engaged property and construction advisors, Slattery, to carry out an environmental impact audit.
According to David, C6 is acting as proof of concept. “The intention for Grange is that the C6 concept will be rolled out across all the capital cities. We haven’t finalised an exact number yet, but we intend to build in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. They won’t be the same C6. Every architectural response will be as it should be, appropriate to the context of the site and location and as such, the built form in scale, will vary. The platform that C6 is created on is not constrained with any height limitations, however it’s not about being tall for tall’s sake.
“At the end of the day while the mass timber elements are certainly being promoted and talked about, it’s just part of a mix of a whole range of environmental inputs into this project, which collectively contribute to it being a response towards being the best stewards of the materials we have at hand.”
“We are stewards of the planet, its natural resources and the materials we make from them. The only way we are going to make a real difference, I believe, is at the corporate level where industry at large looks more seriously at the materials we’re using and building methodologies,” David concludes.
Situated in South Perth, the 51-storey hybrid mass timber building will include 245 apartments and reach 183.5 metres in height.
Image credits: Grange Development and Ellenberg Fraser Architects.
See: https://c6perth.com/
