PROJECT DETAILS
A2: Compared to solid sawn timber, STRUCTURAL LVL offers more consistent mechanical properties, higher strength-to-weight ratio, and better resistance to warping, splitting, or shrinking. Defects like knots are distributed across the veneers, reducing their impact on overall strength.
High-Strength Window & Façade Mullions
LVL’s small-section, high-capacity characteristics allow 45 × 190 mm mullions to span 4.5 m floor heights while supporting double-glazed unitised panels up to 3 kN/m² wind load. The material’s low thermal conductivity (λ ≈ 0.12 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) improves façade U-value compared with aluminium stiffeners, aiding code compliance for NZEB towers .
Roof-Up / Podium Transfer Beams
On “podium” RC floors that carry 8–12 timber storeys above, 2 m deep steel-timber hybrid box beams use LVL as the top & bottom chords. With 24 m lengths available, a single LVL chord can carry 4 MN ultimate tension, eliminating field splices and accelerating the critical-path transfer-level installation by 30 % .
Temporary Load-Transfer Trusses During Top-Down Construction
In basements excavated beneath existing high-rises, contractors erect 12 m span LVL king-post trusses to carry 500 kN column loads while permanent RC slabs are cast. After curing, the trusses are removed and reused, lowering temporary-works cost versus steel needles by 20 %.
Vibration Mitigation Floor Panels
LVL rib panels (LVL joists + 18 mm OSB) factory-bonded with visco-elastic strips raise floor natural frequency above 9 Hz, meeting stringent office-build-out criteria for 6–8 m column grid high-rises without additional concrete topping .
In summary, LVL’s high strength-to-weight ratio, long stock lengths, and reliable mechanical properties enable its use anywhere in tall buildings—from lightweight formwork 300 m up to primary gravity/wind elements inside 80 m timber-hybrid towers—delivering faster, safer, and lower-carbon construction cycles.
Transfer Plates for Podium Levels
Advantage: Lighter than steel, reduces crane demand and foundation load.
Use: LVL beams act as temporary or permanent load distributors between timber upper floors and concrete podiums.
