TSIRC Timber with QBuild

This timber modular housing solution gives Queensland communities a faster path to new homes. Designed to withstand Queensland’s coastal and cyclonic conditions, the timber-framed module can be deployed across the state, including remote locations such as Mabuiag Island, Horn Island and Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) and K’Gari (Fraser Island), giving people in some of Queensland’s most isolated communities a place to call home, while supporting the local timber industry along the way.

The designs were constructed using readily available timber products with minimal steel (stainless steel) fixings. The TSIRC designs adopted an agnostic Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) methodology that can be constructed using one or more of the following approaches:

• Simple linear components (1D) – traditional stick frame construction

• Panelised components (2D) – floor, wall, and/or roof cassettes

• Modular components (3D) – volumetric modules

The initial prototypes were constructed using 1D components assembled into 3D modules within a factory environment but could also be constructed on-site as 1D and/or 2D components. This flexibility, rather than commitment to a single MMC typology, reflects the co-design principle of adapting construction methodology to community context rather than imposing standardised solutions.

TTW delivered Structural Engineering services for the QBuild Timber Prototype project, which was successfully delivered as part of QBuild’s Adaptive Emergency program. Our services included:

• Engineering and delivery of a timber modular housing solution for QBuild’s statewide programme
• Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) methodology, streamlining design and delivery through volumetric, flat-pack and kit-of-parts systems
• Construction sequencing, resolution of details, and documentation