Entrant:
Ally Bennett / Armitage Williams Construction
Category:
4. Mid-rise building design award
Photographed by:
Frank J. Visser Photography Ltd
Overview
Arvida Park Lane Retirement Village (Stage 2)
Arvida Park Lane Village is a multistorey retirement living complex located in Christchurch, New Zealand consisting of 80 apartments, café, lounge, and library within a landscaped setting. The design is based on a comprehensive approach to well-being and celebrates environmental sustainability and biophilic design by introducing natural materials.
Arvida Park Lane Village is a multistorey retirement living complex located in Christchurch, New Zealand consisting of 80 apartments, café, lounge, and library within a landscaped setting. The design is based on a comprehensive approach to well-being and celebrates environmental sustainability and biophilic design by introducing natural materials.
Constructed in two stages, the complex contains three linked wings of tiered two- to four-storey buildings consisting of a conventional build design that uses concrete for the foundation and ground level and XLam Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) for the upper levels. The primary wall, floor, and stair structure from the first floor up is entirely CLT, manufactured in Nelson from New Zealand-grown Pinus Radiata. Park Lane Village was the first of its kind for New Zealand, that being a multi-storey predominantly CLT building and has therefore set the precedence for CLT design guidance, greatly assisting the development of industry best practices.
The CLT structural system was selected for its seismic performance and fire resistance as well as its construction efficiency and significant sustainability benefits. The apartments were designed in a ‘honeycomb’ structure and separated by permanent structural internal walls, acoustic-battened and gib-lined to achieve sound insulation.
The key to the success of this system was in the careful coordination of the connection details along with an experienced contractor to understand the challenges of tight tolerances and sequencing. Knife edge steel plate connections were utilised to allow building flexure and localised ductile behaviour under earthquake loads, with the remainder of the timber being capacity-protected from damage. Wall and floor panels were keyed together with CNC castellations to transfer high shear forces and significantly reduce the need for mechanical connectors on site. Additionally, as the site was subject to ongoing settlement, the use of timber minimised the construction material requirements, i.e., building weight, to provide an economically beneficial solution to this issue.
Using prefabricated CLT in this multistorey design had substantial cost and safety benefits; on-site construction time was greatly reduced as large format floor and bracing CLT panels may be placed rapidly to establish safe and stable working platforms for the contractor, without the need for wet trades or extensive propping.
Some of the visual-grade panelling is exposed to create a strong, but warm design feature which links back to the biophilic design focus. Minimisation of mechanical fixings also provides a clear finish to create a natural, calming aesthetic. This is continued to the exterior with the locally grown accoya timber façade system. In addition to its stunning aesthetics, CLT offered a sustainable construction solution with the panels used throughout the complex storing approximately 1,131 tonnes of CO2 in its structure.
Arvida Park Lane Village has marked the path for structural timber implementation in mid-rise construction with its use of CLT engineering. More importantly, doing so while maintaining consideration for crucial sustainability, aesthetic, and well-being factors.