Investigating the Use of Softwood Poles for ‘Massive’ Elements in Timber Commercial Buildings.

Abstract

A recent project at the School of Architecture & Planning, University of Auckland, is the study of using poles in ‘massive’ timber building. Over the last 50 years pinus radiata poles have been used extensively as foundation piles, power poles, and as the members of retaining walls. In Europe, ‘massive’ or ‘cross-laminated’ timber construction has proved successful for a variety of reasons, including the environmental advantages. Because the panels are ‘thick’, the stresses in them remain relatively low. Thus, lower grades of wood can be incorporated in the panels, which is less wasteful and reduces cost. New Zealand produces a large quantity of wood from plantation forests, mainly in the form of pinus radiata softwood. Our study sees the potential of arranging readily available and moderately priced radiata poles as the floor panels in ‘massive’ type timber construction. This paper shows how timber poles are traditionally utilised in New Zealand and, also, interesting recent developments for their use. It simply explains the proposed system for using poles in ‘massive’ type construction to 6 levels.