INNOVATIVE
KIWI TIMBER
TECH IN
CANTERBURY
Innovative, tall timber framing
has risen on the University of
Canterbury’s Ilam campus, as a new
building, honouring alumna ‘Queen
of the Cosmos’ Beatrice Tinsley,
advances multi-storey timber-framed
construction in New Zealand.
Construction of the Science precinct’s
impressive new four-storey, timberframed
Beatrice Tinsley building
contrasts with the steel framing
typically seen in buildings of similar
height and size.
The patented, tall timber-framing
technology was developed at UC
by Civil and Natural Engineering
professors Alessandro Palermo and
Stefano Pampanin with support from
Emeritus Professor of Timber Design
Andy Buchanan.
The structure uses timber-framing
technology called Pres-Lam and is
a post-tensioned seismic damage
resistant system that pushes the
boundaries of multi-storey timberframed
construction in New Zealand
using laminated veneer lumber, which
has incredible strength.
It will be the first multi-storey building
combining timber moment-frames
and cross-braces in New Zealand. A
moment frame is a two-dimensional
series of interconnected members
that uses rigid connections. It can
resist lateral and overturning forces,
is more flexible than other framing
and allows larger movements in
earthquakes.
“The post-tensioning rods act as
rubber bands and re-centre the
structure during an earthquake.
Additionally, steel angles act as
dissipative fuses that will absorb the
energy of an earthquake. The angles
are external to the timber members
and replaceable allowing for reduced
disruption following an earthquake,”
Professor Palermo says.