Frame Australia’s new CPD-accredited webinars follow innovative timber projects.

Frame Australia has been at the forefront of encouraging offsite and mass timber construction in Australia for over 20 years now and in recent years, the effort has borne a substantial harvest.

Frame Australia is now adding to its annual Timber Offsite Construction event with monthly webinars, where presenters will share their experiences in new construction methodologies. The webinars are designed to both demystify the process for professionals and help the industry advocate for more large timber construction, with benefits including demonstrably proven faster construction times, higher build quality, less site labour, less waste, less disruption, lower environmental impact and lower project costs overall.

The series commenced in February with a look at the new Marrickville Library, overall winner at the Australian Timber Design 2020 Awards. Presenters including the project architects BVN, builder CD Construction Group and timber supplier Rubner Holzbau from Italy discussed the technological and logistical requirements of this build and the reasons behind their material choices, which included glulam, blackbutt and Tasmanian oak.

Future webinars will also focus on real projects, real challenges and real solutions:

  • From concept to completion -– covering the entire design and build process.
  • Presenters include developers, architects, engineers, builders and key suppliers.
  • Learn from the successes (and challenges) of the pioneers.
  • A wide range of innovative timber and mass wood projects.
  • Discussion focus on ‘real’ challenges and ‘real’ solutions with interactive Q&A.
  • CPD accredited.

March’s topic is the Iron Creek Bay Farm Stay project near Hobart, which is nearing construction completion. It is a model for the DfMA (design for manufacture and assembly) process with close collaboration between architect Misho Vasiljevich and CLT supplier XLam creating significant efficiencies in manufacture and assembly. Vasiljevich will be joined by Nick Hewson, Head of Design at XLam, for the webinar, where they will discuss the project’s DfMA and early supplier involvement (ESI) models and their impact on design and delivery.

It will be held on Wednesday 17 March at 5pm. The webinars will also be available from the Frame Australia archive for those unable to attend live online.

With an increasing local production on EWP and other innovative materials and related digital technologies that will drive offsite production and mass timber construction costs lower, plus mounting environmental pressures in the broader community, the boom in larger timber will only pick up pace. Now is the time to see how it can benefit your practice or company.

Each seminar is one hour long and, where pertinent, is nationally CPD accredited for 1.5 Points by the Australian Institute of Building (AIB).

Registration is $49 at the early bird rate by 12 March 2021, or $85 including GST, for both the live event and online viewing.

For more information on Frame’s events and webinars, visit www.frameaustralia.com

Image: Marrickville Library. Photo by Donyale Harrison