First Timber High-Rise in Tasmania, Australia, Taking Shape

In Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, a $30 million (A$) high-rise building made from timber is taking shape, according to ABC News (8-8-23). Five of the seven levels are built with huge, engineered timber beams that stand out on the skyline. Of note, it is one of only a handful of engineered mass timber buildings under construction across Australia.

The 28-meter-high structure is going up fast—in fact, a lot faster than buildings being built from traditional building products such as concrete and steel. “The speed of the construction has been the biggest eye-opener for us,” on-site build manager Marcus Perkins told ABC News. “We are getting requests for tours every week from architects, clients, industry groups, builders, engineers, everyone.”

The seventh level of the new building has an engineered timber floor and ceiling made from hardwood mass timber produced in Tasmania. The person behind the hardwood-engineered products is Michael Lee of Cusp Building Solutions.

Lee told ABC News that “We’ve taken material that was destined for the wood chip pile that was going to China to make paper and built it into the timber for the built environment in a sustainable and usable manner that Fairbrother and others can use.”

Fast-growing eucalyptus nitens, planted in the 1990’s to feed now defunct pulp mills, are now going into Tasmanian-engineered timber products.