Tallest timber apartment building signals change in construction industry

The completion of Forté - the world’s tallest, and Australia’s greenest, timber apartment building - heralds a new paradigm in Australia’s construction industry.

Located near the water’s edge in Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour, Forté has proven that the revolutionary material cross laminated timber (CLT) offers a viable alternative to traditional construction options like concrete and steel, which are carbon-intensive.

The Head of Operational Excellence for Lend Lease’s Australia business, Daryl Patterson, said CLT provides a more efficient and environmentally friendly construction process and has enormous potential in the Australian market.

“Designed and produced in a factory environment, Forté was 30% faster to build, safer and with higher precision than traditional construction materials. It also resulted in reduced construction traffic to and from site, caused less disruption to the community and produced less waste,” said Patterson.

“Unlike Europe, where the revolutionary material has been used for more than a decade, Australia is only at the beginning of its CLT journey and still has a way to go to recognise the enormous potential in our market.

“While we are in the early stages of developing environmentally friendly apartment buildings, we are noticing a changing perception among consumers towards the long-term value that sustainable housing offers.

“Forté is built on the principle that what’s good for the environment is good for the resident too. Using CLT offers better thermal performance and requires less energy to heat and cool - which means reduced energy and water costs with average savings of $300 per year or up to 25% less than a typical code-compliant apartment.”

The Centre for Design at RMIT University was commissioned to conduct a cradle-to-grave comparison of the environmental performance of CLT against traditional concrete and steel for the construction of Forté.

Patterson said the key findings revealed a 22% reduction in greenhouse emissions over a 50-year cycle, which has never been achieved by an Australian residential building before.

“The study also confirmed that by using the revolutionary CLT material, Forté reduced CO₂-equivalent emissions by more than 1600 tonnes when compared to concrete and steel - the equivalent of removing over 400 cars from our roads.”

Built and designed by Lend Lease, Forté aspires to be the first 5 Star Green Star As Built residential building in the country. It rises over 10 storeys, offering 23 boutique residential apartments and four townhouses.

Demonstrating its confidence in CLT’s operational and performance efficiency, Lend Lease has already embarked on its next CLT project, which is set to deliver Australia’s most modern and ambitious library.

To be located at the meeting of Collins and Bourke Streets in Victoria Harbour, the library and community centre is being delivered through a three-way partnership comprising Lend Lease, The City of Melbourne and Places Victoria.

“We will continue to review our significant project pipeline to identify appropriate sites for CLT and where there is an appetite for sustainable living,” said Patterson.

“With an increasing number of people moving to urban areas, along with the need to create liveable, sustainable cities that are climate-positive, the adoption of green technologies, materials and modern construction processes, like CLT, means we are closer to achieving this end.”