struction elements.
While there is currently no Australian manufacturing facility, mechanisms are in place whereby CLT panels can be supplied from Europe (at the time of writing companies in New Zealand and Canada have recently started to produce CLT panels; and Australian developer Lend Lease is considering establishing a domestic supply chain, based on radiata pine, with the aim to end the reliance on overseas products; personal communication with Lend Lease, 2012). Recent material testing has shown that the quality of pine in Australia can be considered equal to European spruce and NZ radiata.
The first CLT multistorey residential building in Australia is the residential tower at 807 Bourke Street in Victoria Harbour (Docklands) in Melbourne, built in 2012: a 10-storey apartment building constructed entirely in CLT panels by Lend Lease in collaboration with KLH (Austrian panel manufacturer). The construction period was short, from May to October 2012.
Having recognized the unsustainable nature of many current practices—such as using carbon-intensive materials such as reinforced concrete—we now have the opportunity through massive wood construction to develop more inherently sustainable approaches.
4. Examples of CLT-Constructed Buildings in an Urban Context: European Case Studies and a First Application in Australia
How can consumers be influenced to accept apartments constructed entirely of timber? The use of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of new, affordable and sustainable housing projects is a promising approach for analysing occupant comfort, user behaviour and energy consumption. It will enable researchers to develop and validate an ‘ideal’ model for infill housing using CLT for Australian cities. Surprisingly, there have been few studies of housing using POE or studies that specifically assess whether the social aims of such developments are being achieved [49,50].
In Europe, construction of solid wood panel multi-storey apartment buildings has increased recently. Projects in European cities that have been built or are under way include:
In Austria: Ölzbündt; the LifeCycle Tower (2012), Dornbirn; Schützenstrasse, Innsbruck; Am Muehlweg (2004), Spöttlgasse (2005), Wagramer Strasse (2012) in Wien; Samermösl, Salzburg; Impulse Centre, Graz; Ammerwald Alpine Hotel, Tyrol.
In Switzerland: Wyler Park, Berne; currently over 1000 apartments in Zurich are under construction.
In Germany: projects in Aichach, Hamburg and in Berlin; for instance, the 5-storey apartment building in Goerschstrasse in Berlin-Pankow.
In Italy: a 9-storey apartment building with 130 units is under construction in Milan.
In the UK: various projects have been completed or are in the pipeline, for instance in Hackney, London (Stadthaus, Bridport). One of the earliest projects was the 5-storey office and residential building in Waterson Street, London, by Quay2c Architects (2004).
In Norway: projects in Trondheim and Stavanger have been completed.
In Finland: a large complex in Helsinki, the ‘Low2No’ project, is under construction.
In Canada: the Earth Sciences Building for UBC in Vancouver has been completed (a hybrid structure); a 20-storey wood tower for Vancouver is in planning.
In New Zealand: the 5-storey timber building for Massey University in Wellington has been completed.
In Australia, only a few CLT buildings have been designed and submitted for development approval so far (e.g. the 10-storey Bourke St ‘Forté’ building at Victoria Harbour, which has been completed in 2012, is the first CLT building). Construction costs for apartment buildings are still significantly higher than costs for houses; however, CLT construction has the capacity to change this situation in the coming years. A development in the Sydney area (MacArthur Gardens in Western Sydney), and three in Adelaide (the 4-storey Sturt Street housing project in the city centre; an 8-storey student housing project on top of the existing Topham Mall car park in Currie Street; and an 8-storey apartment building at Bowden Urban Village) propose CLT buildings, although the designs ar