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Brisbane’s first residential timber tower is taking shape just south of the Story Bridge with the penthouse already sold and the building expected to be finished in time to welcome in the new year.
An artist’s impression of Monterey Kangaroo Point. Image: supplied
The view from Monterey Kangaroo Point. Photo: supplied
Every eight or nine days a new floor is added to the boutique, 10-storey Monterey Kangaroo Point development, meaning the complex of 29 apartments will be built in half the time of a conventional steel and concrete development.
Despite the swift build using prefabricated walls, the configuration of apartments is a movable feast, with buyers are able to customise their residences. Feedback from buyer groups during the construction phase has already led to the redesign of the upper three floors to accommodate two residences per floor instead of three.
Monterey Kangaroo Point. Construction is continuing and is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Image: supplied
The environmentally-sustainable build is the second Urban Development Institute of Australia accredited EnviroDevelopment for the Gardner Vaughan Group (GVG), following its Renovare masterplanned community at Yeronga, stage three of which is under construction.
Renovare Yeronga. Image: supplied
GVG’s sales director Sam Gardner said developing, building and managing Monterey showed the company’s commitment to meeting buyer expectations for a quality eco-build, while also ensuring the building becomes a community for residents once complete.
“It’s important to the end user to provide them with a community space, something that will drive the values of the community,” Mr Gardner said.
“We’ll be the caretakers of the building because we really do care, and we want to get the community firing.”
Monterey Kangaroo Point. Image: supplied
For Yeronga that included designing communal areas with vegetable beds and herbs.
All apartments except the five one-bedroom apartments have north-facing views of the city, Story Bridge and river, and all are protected from outside noise by commercial glazing on the windows.
The interiors will look something like this. Image: supplied
A striking visual facade will be a combination of aluminium sheeting and screening with the only exposed timber being the soffits on the balconies and in the hallway.
Monterey Kangaroo Point
“This is great for Brisbane,” Mr Gardner said.
“The price point is very similar to stock in the area. We don’t charge any more, but it costs a lot more to build, but labour is cheaper. It’s taken time for us to work that out, but we’ve done that now.”
All apartments feature wool carpets, Italian tiles, Abey Gareth Ashton Tapwear and European kitchen appliances, with each apartment having parking space for between one and three cars.
A kitchen design for Monterey Kangaroo Point. Image: supplied
Prior to Monterey, the only engineered-timber building in Brisbane had been the commercial site at 25 King Street, Bowen Hills.
25 King St, Bowen Hills. Photo: supplied
THE BASICS
Developer Gardner Vaughan Group
Price One-bedroom from $439,000, two-bedroom from $699,000, three-bedroom from $999,000, four-bedroom from $1.3-$2.4 million
Address 9 Lambert St, Kangaroo Point
Contact 0437 935 912
Faster. All walls are prefabricated by XLAM in Wodonga, Victoria and transported to Brisbane where one floor of the complex is completed in eight to nine days. This also means fewer workers are required on site which has helped builders comply with new social distancing measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Lighter. Monterey is five times lighter than a normal multistorey building and needs to be because it is located above the southern end of the Clem7 Tunnel. While the ground level, first floor and central elevator shaft are a traditional steel and concrete construct, the rest of the building is made of wood. Specifically a Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) which is as strong as steel but with some impressive environmental and health benefits.
A picture of the Australian timbers in the Monterey Kangaroo Point building. Photo: supplied
Sustainable. Monterey will replace 1170 cubic metres of traditional concrete and blockwork for Australian timber, reducing CO2 emissions by 3744 tonnes which is the equivalent of taking 700 petrol cars off the road for a year.
Protected. Timber is a combustible material but the mass of Cross Laminated Timber means it does not ignite easily and burns in a slow, predictable and measurable way. To combat against termites, the ground and first floor are concrete and steel to separate the timber from the ground and the facade is covered by non timber building materials to protect against airborne termites.
Good for you. Timber helps regulate humidity and improve air quality, according to research quoted by Queensland’s peak timber industry body, Timber Queensland. It has better acoustic performance than hard surface materials and absorbs more sound, creating a less stressful environment. It also has lower volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than concrete and steel and can give off a natural organic compound that helps to relax people.
Source: 23 May 2020 – https://www.realestate.com.au/news/brisbanes-first-residential-timber-tower/?rsf=syn:news:nca:gcb:spa