The WoodSolutions Resilient Timber Homes Program is progressing well, with the design competition nearing completion. The jury is now working on nine shortlisted entries and will select the two winners to be announced on 1 September.
The competition had 89 registered entrants and the results will provide valuable outcomes beyond the selection of the winners. These include raising awareness on Australian timber homes are resilient, when designed and built well, and implementing clever, “Code+” designs and detailing that will be shared with the broader construction community to further improve their performances with respect to the competition’s briefs:
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Brief A |
Brief B |
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Show how your New Project achieves at least 3 of these performances, additionally to what is mandated by the National Construction Code of Australia for Mount Gambier, when the home is exposed to a 1m slow-raising flood level lasting for 1 week:
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Show how your New Project achieves the following, additionally to what is mandated by the National Construction Code of Australia for Hervey Bay, when the home is exposed to a Category 5 cyclone (Severe Tropical Cyclone) and a subsequent 1m slow-raising flood level lasting for 1 week, by:
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The results of the design competition will be incorporated in a WoodSolutions Resilient Timber Homes Design Guide, along with several examples and lessons learned from the experiences of the authors (James Davidson Architects and James McIntosh, Sedgwick’s Senior Manager - Building consultancy division), which are amongst the top Australian experts in this field. The Design Guide is being developed to provide expert guidance and advice relating to the role timber can play in building more resilient homes. With this guide, builders and architects will have access to the latest timber-focused knowledge and resources to support the creation of homes that can withstand Australia’s natural disasters.
The Resilient Timber Homes Design Competition, meanwhile, has engaged with some of Australia’s best designers to develop a new resilient timber home design by modifying a benchmark home that has been designed and built in the recent past.
Resilient timber construction has the potential to be a significant driver of the growth in the demand for innovative, sustainable, and competitive wood-based products and services, and WoodSolutions expects that the Resilient Timber Homes Program will assist the sector in moving towards this future demand.
Further information can be found at the Program’s website, and please feel free to reach out to the program’s Chair, Kevin Peachey, Statistics and Economics Manager at Forest & Wood Products Australia with any additional questions.
WoodSolutions is resourced by Forest & Wood Products Australia Ltd, a not-for-profit company funded by levy paying members and the Australian Government to provide national research and development and promotional services to the Australian forest and wood products industry.