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Dr David Bylund, timber advisor for Grange Development’s South Perth C6 development, spoke with Michael Dolphin, publisher of Built Offsite about balancing innovation, sustainability, and a property developer who’s embracing the future of construction. (main image: C6 by Grange Development)
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 is 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 projects nearly 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 have 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 50-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/
