|
To design and supervise the construction of the buildings for a new sawmill. All design work had to be to hurricane wind loadings higher than normally used in the Pacific Islands. The design had to be suitable for construction by local labour and without the use of sophisticated construction methods. The building contract was won in an international competitive design-build tender where LHTDesign’s timber framed buildings proved to be cheaper than steel alternatives.
Over 11,000sq m of buildings, all with main frames of New Zealand laminated timber, with purlin and girt trusses and all minor framing made on site from Fijian pine. The buildings included:
- 80m x 22m span x 11m stud sawmill plus greenchain.
- 70m x 46m planermill with only eight internal legs.
- 70m x 41m dry store.
- Building for CCA treatment plant, stacker building, cooling and unloading sheds.
As principal consultants, LHTDesign carried out the design of all the building structures in this $2M project in accordance with the requirements of HA Simons, the project managers, and provided an engineer on site for seven months to manage the construction using local labour and resources.
The buildings were completed on time and to budget. The use of timber (especially the local timber for secondary framing) was considered by the owner to be a good advertisement for their product. The use of local labour was considered to demonstrate the advantages of this type of construction in less developed countries.
The design won the ICI / SETMA Design Award in 1987.
|
