Serenitas were facing the challenge of meeting a strict build schedule while ensuring the framing sets could be quickly customised. Due to the different home variations within the resort, the framing system had to be adaptable yet rigid enough to be deconstructed and reassembled at new sites, all while adhering to strict regulations, including alignment with the Mobile Housing Act.
Though a relocation was unlikely, the walls, beams and trusses had to be designed to be taken apart in segments and reassembled at a new location while meeting all regulations.
In addition, the design had to be RV friendly with high garage walls—an often complex and expensive requirement. Working with our team of specialists was crucial to finding a practical and cost-effective solution to these multi-layered challenges, ultimately ensuring Latitude 25 maintain their strong sales trajectory.
Client
Serenitas
Sector:
Residential
Completed:
2023
For a community catering to RV enthusiasts, houses at Latitude 25 needed garages with towering 4m-high walls. Traditional solutions, with their structural steel vertical posts, would have made this an expensive venture for 281 homes. This is because once a wall frame exceeds 3m, it usually requires these posts to resist significant movement caused by wind pressure. When you’re looking at developing over 280 homes, the cost becomes excessive using normal practices to tackle this issue. So, we reimagined the approach.
Working closely with our client team and top engineers, we created a self-bracing high wall made solely from light gauge wall frames, eliminating the need for structural posts. Our specialists achieved this by using a close centred back-to-back stud pattern with internal k-bracing, paired with a rigid portal frame at the garage opening.
As well as significantly reducing material costs, we went a step further to cut back transportation costs and efficiency. The high-vaulted garage design was applied to all homes, adapting to 2.4m wide segments for easy transportation. We were able to fit an entire home onto one 9m body truck saving over $2,000 per home on transport costs and $600,000 over the life of the project. Our detailers played a key part in this, ensuring the standard height wall frame segments were split to widths that could create 5m packs to compliment the 4m high walls.
Our specialised design, featuring a unique stud pattern and a rigid portal frame, not only slashed material costs significantly, but is now backed by the 50-year Truecore warranty from Bluescope.
Our Yandina factory, strategically located by the Bruce Highway, and our dedicated fleet ensured a swift delivery rate of 1.5 homes per week. Customisations? No problem. Our in-house detailers swiftly implemented changes, and were always in sync with onsite carpenters, ensuring a seamless build process.