Dynamic Steel Frame - 388 Lonsdale Apartment Building
TRUECORE® steel gives new life to an old building
A light-gauge framing system made from TRUECORE® steel has breathed new life into an old 12-storey building.
Add eight storeys to a 50 year old, 12 storey building.
- 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)
388 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, Victoria
Roger Schmidt, Martyn Tribe, Rob Gordon
Irwin Consult
- Framing: 1mm gauge lightweight framing made from TRUECORE® steel.
- Structural steel: 200mm UBs.
- Walling made from COLORBOND® steel Monument® in a Classic finish and COLORBOND® steel Celestian® and Rhea® in a Metallic finish
September 2018