{"id":7253,"date":"2023-06-12T11:46:13","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T01:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=7253"},"modified":"2024-10-21T20:31:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:31:06","slug":"how-a-hybrid-timber-floor-system-could-transform-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/how-a-hybrid-timber-floor-system-could-transform-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Hybrid Timber Floor System Could Transform Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prototypes for a new hybrid timber floor system, developed by Dialog Design<\/a> and EllisDon Construction<\/a>, will be tested at FP Innovations<\/a>, a non-profit research institute at the University of British Columbia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported in the Vancouver Sun<\/a> the flooring systems could be used in future \u2018tall timber\u2019 buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI designed them from a sketching,\u201d said Thomas Wu, whose portfolio includes Vancouver projects such as the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hote<\/a>l, the Shangri-La Hotel<\/a>, and the Shaw Tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2018, Wu and Craig Applegate from the Canadian Dialog Design Architecture firm began exploring ways to use mass timber in buildings more sustainably and economically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presently, the ‘biased’ building codes in British Columbia only allow the use of mass timber in structures up to 18 storeys high<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wu and his team saw this as a challenge to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The standard method of constructing taller mass-timber buildings involves stacking 18-storey blocks on top of each other and adding connecting support columns and beams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thomas Wu, principal, structural engineering, Dialog Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Craig Applegath, architecture principal, Dialog Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The innovation could result in zero-carbon 105-storey buildings<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

However, they knew there was room for a more efficient approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dialog team realised that the main cost of building materials for a project was predominantly in its flooring systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a peer review by Dialog’s teams across Canada, they partnered with EllisDon Construction in Ontario. This collaboration led to creating and patenting a hybrid timber floor system – known as the ‘Hybrid Timber Floor System (HTFS)’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HTFS marries traditional cross-laminated timber (or CLT panels) with steel and concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Wu, this blend could allow for the construction of a zero-carbon footprint building soaring up to 105 storeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dialog Design released renders for a 105-storey tower that would utilise the HTFS technology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In January 2021, Wu and Applegate spoke to De51gn <\/a>about the concept, detailing key design considerations, including supply, durability, and fire rating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Updated renders from the 105-storey super-tall timber tower. It is hoped that HTFS could become a global solution for all types of construction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Update on testing<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Since mid-2022, smaller versions of these flooring systems have undergone tests to gauge their resistance to fire and load-bearing capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These full-sized prototypes are thinner and incorporate steel tendons, allowing them to be much longer than the existing mass-timber designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional mass-timber panels usually limited to six to 7.5 meters in length, demand costly supporting beams, posts, and intricate joinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, this new system accommodates panels that span 12 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such lengthy panels are ideally suited for commercial buildings and other structures demanding wide-open office and gathering spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two 12-meter long, three-meter-wide prototypes of these floor panels will soon be dispatched from EllisDon’s facility in Stoney Creek, Ontario, to FP Innovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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