Hyne Timber  supplied a range of timber materials for installing the rafters at the Amberley RAAF Fitness Centre for the Australian Government Department of Defence.

Involved in the project from the preliminary design and engineering stages, Hyne designed and fabricated a hidden epoxy dowel joint system for easy assembly onsite of the 20.4-metre length needed for the 38 main rafters used throughout the building. Joining the shorter lengths onsite greatly reduced the transportation costs.

Nine extendable semi-trailer loads were delivered over an 8-week period with the contractor Thomas & Coffey installing the rafters starting at the gymnasium section and finishing over the pool section of the project.

In addition to the rafters, Hyne also supplied the timber materials required for the skylights and purlins. These materials included Hynebeam 17 Plantation Pine Glulam or Hyne LGL Plantation Pine Laminated Glued Lumber with both products treated to hazard level H3.

Treating the Hynebeams and the Hyne LGL to H3 is a very cost effective way of providing protection against the harsh environment of indoor swimming pools. Combined with good design and an appropriate finishing system the RAAF can expect this building to perform well with few maintenance requirements.

All the Hyne laminated timber beams used at the Amberley site were manufactured and fabricated at the Hyne Glulam plant located at Maryborough in Queensland. All the products have been manufactured in accordance with AS/NZ 1328.1 and Accredited Quality Management Systems ISO 9001 – 2008.

The Hyne Glulam plant as well as the Hyne sawmill at Tuan have Chain of Custody (CoC), which guarantees that the products used in this project have been sourced from softwood plantation forests that comply with the Australian Forest Standard (AFS/PEFC).  

Research has shown that the use of timber products result in a much smaller carbon footprint than energy intensive building materials such as steel, aluminium, concrete and masonry. Every timber member also represents carbon stored for the life of the timber.

Hyne timber products used on the project:

  • Rafters 920 x 135 Hynebeam 17S Select Grade LOSP H3
  • Purlins 260 x 85 Hynebeam 17S Select Grade LOSP H3
  • Skylight beams 525 x 83 and 755 X 83 sizes Hynebeam 17C LOSP H3
  • Connections: Hidden epoxy dowel