Global property development giant Lend Lease has announced it will construct Australia’s first timber high rise apartment building.

 

Using Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), the process has been used in Europe for over a decade.

 

By using CLT, the project, Forté, will reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 1,400 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel – the equivalent of removing 345 cars from our roads.

 

CLT is an engineered mass timber product and very different to a traditional wood frame. Mass timber - dense solid panels of wood engineered for strength through laminations of different layers – provides significant benefits and has the equivalent structural integrity to concrete. CLT on a weight to strength basis meets, and in some cases exceed, the performance of reinforced concrete, resulting in a very stable and durable structural outcome.

 

Chief Executive Officer for Lend Lease’s Australian business, Mark Menhinnitt said CLT is the most significant form of innovation in construction technology that Australia has seen in many years.

 

“CLT will transform the construction industry by introducing a more efficient and environmentally friendly construction process that has never been undertaken in Australia before.

 

“In 2001, we introduced the innovation of chilled beam technology to the Australian market which has now become the industry norm. CLT is another example of how Lend Lease is leading the way with innovations that will create value for consumers in the industry.