Melbourne has increased Another sprout on the mass wood ladder with T3 Collingwood with 15 floors. Project director Chris Botterill deals with interdisciplinary cooperation and ensures the planning of planning and passion for wood.
Olivia Round: Congratulations on the many price winners of T3! How did it feel after the construction of the building after the construction?
Chris Botterill: There is a great feeling of satisfaction and performance that arises from reaching a building that is so unique despite the challenges of Covid. There is a feeling of mere joy and pride to deliver something like this!
Or: One of the participants of Architectureeau described T3 as an acoustic and tactile softness – what do you think is it about wood that causes this feeling?
CB: Usually we humans first lead through the more conventional concrete levels of the building before we show them the above wood values. It is fascinating to observe that people's feelings change. I think it is something intinish for all of us – this reaction to the use of wood and the inherent warmth and the feeling of greeting it emerges. The expression “human -centered rooms” is often used in terms of design. This feels like a very real manifestation of this approach.
Or: How is mass wood for biophilic design suitable?
CB: Biophiles design is based on research that show that we can involve the natural world into the built infrastructure that we can improve the psychological and physiological well -being of people. Many people do not understand how concrete or steel is made. But we have this innate, emotional connection to wood – and that catches T3. A natural connection to the wood. We don't have to decode it.
Or: Before T3, her customer had never completed a mass wood project in Australia, but JCB. What knowledge did you bring to the project?
CB: I have built up strong industry connections and know how to get the right people into conversation at an early stage, which is of crucial importance for the construction of the mass wood.
Or: Were there some roadblocks for Australian building regulations that Haile had not met with their projects in the USA, Canada and Barcelona?
CB: absolutely. Fire strategies and the procurement method were two of the most important challenges that were specific to Australia. Most projects of over 20 million US dollars follow a design and construction creation process on site, while the USA use a flat -rate agreement. However, Hines was able to recognize the advantages of being able to deliver a project on the Australian market.
Or: What strategies for water management did you have to take into account when working with structural wood?
CB: The senior contractor -icon invested a lot of time and money in the reduction in water. I think there is still work to do, especially when dealing with water in and construction, but their efforts were successful.
Or: How did your experience bring it through the council?
CB: Infill website is always a challenge. We have a good relationship with City of
Yarra and that results from a real commitment to strong communication and part of the decision -making in important places of the design process.
Or: What are the reasons for the selection of hybrid against complete wooden construction?
CB: In this project it was the height. We also wanted to recognize the context of Collingwood with a robust podium or a street wall that reacted more to the industrial character of the area, with the new lighter wood values ​​mentioned above. It is a very clear demarcation of the architectural language.
Or: the marriage of old and new!
CB: Exactly. There is an old gin distillery on the Wellington Street page. A defining step was to align the northern facade of the podium with this cultural heritage in the east and to create a wider ground level with generous arrival and bourgeois quality. The tower forms cantilever via this setback to define an input path – and effectively use the date for the podium. The podium is dressed with disadvantaged bricks that insert the building into its immediate street scale, during the glazing curtain wall tower above reacts to an emerging typology of buildings in the immediate vicinity.
Or: Has the T3 scale strengthen your confidence in the use of CLT or Glulam for future projects? I know that JCB recently completed the Berninneit Cultural and Community Center, which also uses mass wood.
CB: Yes, 100%. I lead most of our wooden buildings and am currently working on a wooden student project in Clayton. I also give a keynote presentation at Wood Solutions Conference about how architects can motivate customers to build wood. I think it is a real way to create sustainable building typology. If not every project is suitable for wood. You need a certain scale and cranage access, so it must be useful in the context of the website. If it is appropriate, then I will do a case for it.
Or: that makes a lot of sense.
CB: I think you also have to be open to mixing materials – you don't want to do without the opportunity to integrate wood. The regulations change over time, so we have to carry out baby steps for the incremental change.
Or: great advice. What other tips do you have for architects who consider to specify mass wood for your projects?
CB: Don't try to transform a project you developed in concrete into a wood structure – I've done that before! The result was successful, but it was very challenging and probably less efficient than if we had been designed for wood from the start.