Precast Panel Homes
Residential building construction really hasn’t progressed far since the advent of the brick veneer home over 60 years ago. In this same period however, huge advances have been made in commercial building design through the use of pre-cast concrete construction.
John Burke of Burke Engineering Services in Thornton NSW saw this as a challenge, to come up with a house design that could utilise all the advantages of pre-cast concrete construction that he uses in commercial building design. The result is the Burke Engineering Panel Home.
The Panel Home design uses the concrete panels as the structural members rather than a brick veneer home where the timber frame has to support the loads. The walls are rigidly tied to the floor and the roof tied to the tops of the walls, giving these homes structural integrity unseen in domestic homes up until now.
One of the features of the Panel Home patented design that has made it so successful, is that it doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel so to speak. The external walls are comprised of 110mm concrete panels, a 40mm gap and then a timber stud wall complete with insulation and plasterboard on the inside. This means that to the follow up trades, this is a normal house to wire, plumb and paint.
The speed of construction is what has caught the attention of the industry. A typical Panel Home will be at lockup after only 10 days & will be complete and ready to occupy before most brick veneer homes have had a single brick laid.
John Burke is also the inventor of the Reid OrbiPlateTM, the revolutionary system that gives 20mm of tolerance between the holes in structural members and cast-in ferrules. This eliminates lost time and additional expense required to perform the all-to-common remedial work when these connections don’t line up.
The Panel Home design incorporates Orbi-PlatesTM for all panel to panel connections, ensuring there is no lost time on the day of erection.
The Panel Homes have been so successful that Burke Engineering has engaged The Mates Group as the head licence holder. The Mates Group is a Social Enterprise, incorporated as a not-for-profit Australian Public Company, looking to create an innovative approach to sustainable business development, increasing the value of the businesses to their customers and the community.
Rob Johns, CEO of the Mates group is now talking with builders looking to take up this innovative, time saving method of construction. With the following benefits to this method of construction, no wonder Rob is really turning heads in an industry not accustomed to very much change.
- Thermal Mass - with the thermal mass properties of concrete, combined with internally insulated walls and roof, the cost of the energy to heat and cool is up to 50% less than a conventional brick veneer dwelling.
- Acoustic Mass - the well know acoustic properties of concrete produce a significantly quieter environment inside the homes.
- White Ant Resistant - As the external concrete walls are the load bearing elements (combined with steel or H2 timber frames) there is no further White Ant barrier or future treatment required for the buildings. A significant cost saving and environmentally friendly feature.
- Straight & True - As the wall panels are factory manufactured the resultant construction is very precise. Other trades following (tilers, plasters, joiners) repeatedly comment on the ease of working with these buildings. When you start straight you finish straight.
- Speed of Construction – A 4 bedroom house can be built inside 8 weeks. The methodology of Panel Homes construction technique allows many trades to work in parallel. This speed reduces risk and improves cash flow.
- Reduced Construction Waste - no waste concrete to the footings and walls as all are factory manufactured. No excess concrete to the ground slab as the walls provide neat containment to slab pour. The precast footings are manufactured from the daily excess concrete at the precast factory. This provides a vehicle for the pre-cast manufacturer to minimise their production waste and value add from what was previously a wasted resource.
- Durable Construction - The reinforced concrete walls provide exceptional strength that resist against external forces (ground movement, earthquake, floods, cyclones, bushfire).
To find out more about Panel Homes, you can;
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