Sept 2018 | 2 min read

Dynamic Steel Frame - 388 Lonsdale Apartment Building

TRUECORE^® steel gives new life to an old building

Project Information

Project

388 Lonsdale Street

Location

Melbourne, Victoria

Client/Developer

Aurumstone

A light-gauge framing system made from TRUECORE^® steel has breathed new life into an old 12-storey building.

Fast and efficient installation
Overall construction time reduced
Impressive strength-to-weight ratio
Lightweight and easy to move around

Add eight storeys to a 50 year old, 12 storey building.

Project Goal

Key Challenges

Existing structure’s ability to take additional load.
The age of the building meant that the grid could have been anywhere between 10mm to 30mm off, so the new steel structure had to accurately meet the existing columns.
There was no external access to build the walls and then clad them: all the new levels would be built without scaffolding.

Key Elements

Highly modularised floor system

Highly modularised floor system comprising a 2.7 metre wide by 5.5 metre long fully finished floor cassette which is framed by 1mm gauge lightweight TRUECORE^® steel. Each flooring cassette has four lifting points which can be craned into position and dropped on top of the structural steel of the portal frame which is composed mostly of 200mm universal beams. The cassette fixes in with screws, then it’s ready to walk on. (PB)

Wall façades

Wall façades comprising a system of interlocking panels made from COLORBOND ^® steel Monument^® in a Classic finish and COLORBOND ^® steel Celestian ^® and Rhea ^® in a Metallic finish, that finish a frame of insulation and plasterboard, internally. Built off-site, these were simply lifted onto the building by crane, where they were fixed from inside into wall frames made from 1mm gauge lightweight framing made from TRUECORE^® steel. (PB)

Wall frames

Wall frames that allow for 10 metre-long by three metre-tall panels and no heavy structural steel was necessary to meet the walls’ engineering requirements. (PB)

3D modelling

3D modelling to ensure the system would work, and allow for a number of mechanical and plumbing services. Also to ensure appropriate joist-deflection requirements, to prevent noise transmission between floors. (CC)

Outcomes

Summing up the project, Carlos Cagliero, Senior project manager for builders Verve Construction said:

“It’s very rare. We’re starting at 12 storeys and going up another eight and that creates a lot of logistics to deal with. We worked with Peter and his engineers at Dynamic Steel Frame to push the framing system to its full capabilities and maximise our apartment space and building value.”

Carlos Cagliero

Senior project manager for builders Verve Construction

Peter Blythe, managing director of Dynamic Steel Frame said:

“It would be difficult to achieve the number of floors with alternative materials such as concrete due to strength-to-weight ratios. Due to its weight above the existing building if we were to use concrete we would have only been able to go up one or two levels. With our lightweight steel framing made from BlueScope’s TRUECORE^® steel the client was able to go far higher than that. They are definitely very happy about it.”

Sources

Carlos Cagliero, Senior project manager, Verve Construction (CC)
Peter Blythe, Managing director, Dynamic Steel Frame (PB)
Roger Schmidt, Project architect, Urban Design Architects (RS)

The content of this case study is based on statements made by the sources listed above and is a reflection of their views and experience. Same/similar results are not guaranteed for each user and outcomes may vary across projects.