Recent tours of the FWPA-supported WoodSolutions mid-rise timber demonstration building were a big success with some of Australia’s leading fire safety professionals.
The WoodSolutions Mid-rise Advisory team conducted two walk throughs of the multi-storey timber construction at Holmesglen Institute in Chadstone in August with representatives from Warringtonfire.
Warringtonfire is a global leader in fire safety services. In Australia, it offers a comprehensive range of fire safety engineering, independent fire testing, fire assessment and product certification services to the construction and building products industries.
Representatives from Warringtonfire’s fire testing and fire assessment team attended the site to familiarise themselves with mid-rise construction products, systems and assembly methods with particular relevance to fire resistance, compliance and therefore certification.
The structure was built to assist with education on mid-rise construction methods in Australia. It demonstrates how to successfully design and build a six-level mid-rise project with engineered timber products, based on a section of an apartment building. Check out this video for a brief overview of the mid-rise demonstration model.
The full-scale, mid-rise timber construction demonstrates all the structural, fire rating, and acoustic systems associated with timber in mid-rise construction. Since completion, design and build professionals have been invited to tour the building, guided by trained WoodSolutions representatives.
Attendees can see first-hand how timber can be used for a variety of purposes in mid-rise structures, and thereby gain an understanding of how it can be used safely in design adapted to capitalise on the many benefits associated with timber in construction.
“The feedback from the tours has been very positive and Warringtonfire members commented on the usefulness of being able to not only visualise, but closely inspect the systems and applications related to engineered wood products on display at Holmesglen,” said Gerard Neylan, Program Advisor at the WoodSolutions Mid-rise Program.
“This will be of value not only in providing advice to project proponents and their consultants, but also in assessing fire compliance in the future from a more informed viewpoint.”
Patrick Chan, Senior Fire Testing Engineer at Warringtonfire, said, “I found the tour to be informative and it connected the testing we have done in the lab to the actual construction.”
The walkthroughs were so well received by attendees that Warringtonfire has requested an additional visit be arranged to gain the same valuable insights for more of its experts and advisors.
If you would like to arrange a walkthrough of the model, contact info@woodsolutions.com.au today.
