Timber takes centre stage in Grocon’s bold new apartment building, Delta. Annie Reid reports.

Following the success of Pixel – Australia’s only carbon neutral office building – the developer announced plans this week for a second project, this time for residential apartments.

Located on the same site, the former Carlton United Brewery in Melbourne, Delta will comprise 50 apartments from 75sq m – 95sq m over 10 storeys – and made entirely of wood.

“This is about thinking differently, and we see it as the start of a roll out of a whole new technology for Australia,” says Grocon’s general manager Carlton Brewery, David Waldren.

With Studio 505 engaged as the project architect, Delta will draw on 2 standards already used in Europe for 20 years.

Its structural system uses Swiss technology in an Australian-first, where responsibly sourced and certified cross-laminated timber will be pre-fabricated in Europe and flat packed for construction in Melbourne.

It also embraces the ‘Passive House’ standard, which currently features in about 20,000 homes throughout Austria, Germany and Scandinavia.

The only other similar tall, timber structure in the world is the Stadthaus, in Hackney, East London.

But in true Grocon style – the developer of Melbourne’s Eureka Tower – Delta will be one storey taller.

For residents, the big drawcard is that the apartments will yield no or very minimal electricity and water bills.

It’s earmarked for completion by the end of 2014.

Grocon
grocon.com.au