EWPs ‘best choice’ for green building
Architectural students create new design concepts

AN affordable housing design challenge – using engineered wood products – to double the ‘living density’ on a normal detached site and avoid high-rise buildings has inspired innovative ideas among third-year architectural students at the University of Queensland.

The assignment brief, which allows for two houses on one normal detached housing site and other combinations that increase density, has been applied to the bustling multicultural precinct of West End, on the edge of Brisbane’s city centre.

Program director of architectural design at the university’s School of Architecture Andrew Wilson says students are exploring the project with the total application of engineered wood products – updating their own interpretations of the all-timber house.

With Simon Dorries, general manager of the Engineered Woods Products Association of Australasia, we watched as enthusiastic students explained their designs and theories which will enter an EWPAA affordable house competition.

“It is exciting to see architectural students investigating the innovative and novel use of EWPs,” Mr Dorries said.

“Some of the projects were really outside the box,” he said. “This is the sort of thinking the industry needs to develop and market the next generation of wood products. And it’s good to see plantation-grown sustainable engineered wood products replacing steel and concrete.”

Students we talked to believe engineered wood products are very stable and offer greater structural strength than typical wood building materials.
“Wood, and more specifically engineered wood, is a renewable building material; it’s a good choice for the environment, for green building, and for long-term life cycle performance,” was the opinion of one student as she completed her presentation.

Another student agreed it was important to understand how engineered wood products can be used to meet the emerging standards and requirements for green building.

More than 100 students in the course will hand in their assignments for further assessment in June.

The high population suburbs of West End, Highgate Hill and South Brisbane were targeted for the third-year housing design assignment. The region with its growing number of cafes, ‘chic’ meeting places and proximity to the University of Queensland, the South Bank complex and the city centre has attracted a younger crowd of residents.

Brisbane City Council estimates the population of South Brisbane and West End will increase by 312.5% over the next 20 years.

The resident population growth – forecast to skyrocket from 8000 to 33,000 and triggered in part because the Queensland Government needs to find space for 156,000 new homes in southeast Queensland – is contained in the South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan.

The plan will facilitate the urban renewal of obsolete, industrial brownfield sites alongside the Brisbane River and create opportunities for new vibrant, well designed and sustainable accommodation. Current projections are for about 33,000 residents and 72,000 employees by 2031.

Another working development at the UQ School of Architecture is the build studio program using the school’s new Multicom CNC router.

Coordinated by lecturer Michael Dickson, the program explores overlaps between building and sculpture that respond to specific settings. The project will be completed collaboratively using physical model making, digitising and the production of prototypes.

The sculpture is using high quality marine grade plywood capable of withstanding a seaside location as the primary material for the finished work.
“We’re doing a lot of good and interesting things out there with building design – and wood is at the core,” reflected Andrew Wilson.

Architecture at UQ is a national leader in architectural education and research. The school is renowned for the quality of its staff and graduates whose contributions have shaped some of the best contemporary architecture of Australia.

The professional programs are characterised by intensive interaction of students and staff on design projects in well-equipped studios and expert lectures in humanities and technology. Research strengths in indigenous culture, the history and theory of architecture, and sustainable design are strongly linked to professional degree programs.

EWPAA general manger Simon Dorries discusses design concepts for an affordable high density housing assignment using engineered wood products with third-year architectural students at Queensland University Agnes lan der Meiv, Janelle Watt and Ben Devany.