The last two decades have seen mass timber emerge as a viable, desirable, and sustainable construction material for both commercial and large-scale residential developments.
This scoping study lays the groundwork for developing a low carbon, suspended floor system capable of spanning 8m or more, and satisfying a range of additional criteria necessary for large-scale application in multi-storey mass timber projects.
Existing product solutions in this field tend to be isolated, project-specific, and detached of market and customer requirements. This scoping study will survey and benchmark the systems available on the market, with the aim of delivering a detailed design brief for future development.
Date commenced and duration
TBD, 6 monthsLead researcher
Partners
Sustainability
- Building Design and DFMA
- Fire Safety
- Production and Process Systems (Advanced Manufacturing)
- Materials and Systems Innovation
- Sustainable Materials and Design
Building Design and DFMA
Theme coordinator

Ivana Kuzmanovska
Projects
#31 Demystifying Volumetric Construction: A Study of the Bathroom Pod
#30 Critical Path IMPACT through Productisation
#9 Implementing DfMA and Lean in Construction: Best Practice Guidelines through a Study of Building Services and Structure
#18 Long-span Low-Carbon Floor Systems (Scoping Study)
#10 Product Platform for Volumetric Building (Scoping Study)
Production and Process Systems (Advanced Manufacturing)
Theme coordinator

Dr Felix Hui
Projects
#15 Using the Whole Tree for Future Timber-Based Construction – Scoping Study
#25 Operational Excellence framework of steel fabrication and processing in the OSM and prefabrication sector (Phase 1)
#31 Demystifying Volumetric Construction: A Study of the Bathroom Pod
#30 Critical Path IMPACT through Productisation
#17 The implication of Industry 4.0 for the construction industry: towards smart prefab
Materials and Systems Innovation
Theme coordinator

Dr Rackel San Nicolas
Projects
#15 Using the Whole Tree for Future Timber-Based Construction – Scoping Study
#24 Next Generation of Robust and Fire-resilient Light Gauge Steel Systems for Mid-Rise Buildings (Umbrella Project)
#37 Australian Timber Fibre Insulation Scoping Study
#20 Systems and methods for robustness of mid-rise light gauge steel (LGS) buildings – Phase 1 Scoping Study
#28 Componentised Internal Wall Systems for Multi-residential Applications
Sustainable Materials and Design
Theme coordinator

Dr Philip Christopher
Projects
#15 Using the Whole Tree for Future Timber-Based Construction – Scoping Study
#37 Australian Timber Fibre Insulation Scoping Study
#25 Operational Excellence framework of steel fabrication and processing in the OSM and prefabrication sector (Phase 1)
#34 Acoustic flanking performance of mid‐rise Light Gauge Steel (LGS) structures – Phase 1 Scoping Study
#19 Hybrid Timber‐Steel Structural Systems for Mid to High Rise Buildings – Phase 1 Scoping Study
Keywords
- Architecture and Building Design
- DfMA
- engineering
- Environmental Performance
- Industrialised Construction
- Prefabrication
- Sustainability