At Vistek, we strongly believe in building deep relationships with our industry partners and our clients. Pushing boundaries in design and construction relies on everyone involved pushing together, and in the same direction. Therefore, close collaboration is a key factor to successful innovation. This has been a core part of our strategy in developing our mass timber sector.
Vicbeam is one such like-minded company we have built a close relationship with. Vicbeam manufacture and supply glue laminated timber (glulam/GLT). They are just as dedicated as Vistek to forming close partnerships to meet the challenges of complex mass timber structures. This has led to some truly remarkable results in the projects we have embarked on together. Orygen Youth Health Centre and San Clemente are two great examples of this.
Orygen Youth Health Centre
The Orygen and Orygen Youth Health (OYH) Centre in Parkville is a world-leading youth mental health facility, for both research and treatment. The new purpose-built centre was designed by Billard Leece Partnership. They worked in close consultation with young people living with mental illness, their families, and staff. Vistek engineers worked closely with Vicbeam and Kane Constructions, the builders, to enable the fantastic designs to take shape. The team completed construction in 2018, while the centre was opened in July 2019.
The building features tree-like Radiata Pine glulam structures branching out across the ceiling. Exposed timber ripples wave-like across the walls. Timber settings transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. Glulam beams frame the views out the windows to the bush beyond. The connection to nature and welcoming materiality provided by the glulam was essential to the design priorities of the space. The building won the 2019 European Healthcare Design Awards for Mental Health Design. Most importantly, it will help carry out the vital work of improving the health and well-being of young people.
The new building at Orygen Youth Health Parkville. Credit: Vicbeam.
San Clemente
Vistek worked with Vicbeam and North Construction & Building to create this stunning construction for San Clemente High School in Mayfield. The basketball court and hall features six massive glulam portals. Each beam spans 24 metres. However, the maximum manufacture length for glulam beams is 18 metres. As such, Vicbeam and Vistek had to work closely together to ensure the splice connections were structurally and aesthetically viable.
Specialised requirements such as these are not out of the norm when working on mass timber projects. Therefore, such projects often require progressive and collaborative thinking. Building good connections between industry partners like Vistek and Vicbeam is key to successfully moving the industry forward.
The Glulam portal beams at San Clemente during construction. Credit: Vistek Engineers.
The new basketball court and multipurpose hall at San Clemente High School. Credit: Vicbeam.
For more information on our work with CLT and mass timber, click here or have a look at our news page.
