A05 Olea

The Olèa apartments at Mason Point are now complete, with new residents eagerly moving in as at early 2020. Developed by Gibson Property Corporation and Roche Property Holdings, stringent acoustic demands meant that prefabricated stud framed walls and lightweight cassette floors were a natural choice for the main structure. Situated over a first floor reinforced concrete podium, the four storeys of stud framing were prefabricated in panels in Timbertruss’ highly controlled offsite facility, ensuring quality and leading to a faster build time than would have been possible if using other structural systems.

Now established as Victoria’s premier mid-rise stud frame builder, Figurehead delivered this project of 52 high quality apartments in an impressive 13 months from site establishment to practical completion. The second mid-rise timber frame project for Idle Architecture Studio, the fundamental design requirements of mid-rise timber frame are well illustrated, with loadbearing walls vertically stacked and typical spans ranging from 5 to 6 metres. With a relatively slender shape the team elected for the use of precast concrete lift cores, providing additional stiffness to the structure under wind loads.

The quick sale and completion of this project demonstrates the market’s willingness to live in timber framed apartments, and the potential benefits these structures can provide for all stakeholders.