A new time-lapse video documents the construction of Australia’s tallest prefabricated tower.
Completed in December 2016, Melbourne’s 133-metre-tall, 44-storey La Trobe Tower by Rothelowman used a new prefabricated construction method developed by Hickory Group.
The video shows the Hickory Building System (HBS) in action. As part of the construction process, prefabricated building elements – including modular bathroom pods, precast concrete slabs and pre-attached windows – trucked onto the site site and craned into place.
It was estimated that the method knocked eight months of the construction time.
According to Rothelowman principal, Stuart Marsland, the prefab method is an entirely new way of thinking. Designers are able to work much more closely with the construction team than in a traditional build.
More importantly, Marsland says the new system can be applied retrospectively to buildings that have already been designed.
Another project to use the HBS prefab method is Hayball’s student accommodation building, also located in Melbourne. Hayball’s project is slated for completion by May 2018. When finished, the 150-metre-tall tower will be one of the world’s tallest student accommodation projects to use prefabricated construction methods. Floor slabs, façades and Hickory’s Sync bathroom pod system will be manufactured off-site before being trucked to on-site for final assembly.
