Slab wall building ...what's it called?

As an adjunct to Jacques thread on double brick I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me about the concrete slab wall buildings and why we don't see much of that style in residential building? At least it seems that way in WA. Does this style of building occur in other states? Its used a lot on commercial sites in WA. It seems so darn fast I just wondered whether it is cost effective for residential homes. I realise, you'd need room to the sides of homes to raise the sides up, so it wouldn't suit a lot of blocks, but just curious.

 

I've heard it called "tilt-slab"

 

Thats interesting Sim that you feel they are boring. My impression was that the facades could be quite varied. I've seen some quite attractive buildings built this way in the Joondalup area. At least, some of the styles of the commercial buildings I've seen recently look okay. I wonder if its possible to get a basic structure up quickly with this technique then add more interest to it?

 

No I haven't, but perhaps I'll take the digital out and take some shots to show on the forum. Maybe what they are doing here in WA is different, I don't know. Its not that I'm actually currently thinking of building a resi this way, its just that I thought it would take off as a building method with homes. I did see an architect designed home built this way on TV a few years ago. I believe it went up in a matter of weeks. I think the program was hosted by that actor from the Castle?

 

It's called tilt up if the slab is fabricated on site and then lifted when cured, and is usually only one level and used for commercial buildings/factories. It's called pre-cast if it's manufactured off site, and predominately used in higher rise construction. Pre-cast is more "engineered" than tilt up...

 

Yep!...pre-cast is terrific.

We're using it on Platinum and it allows us to erect 2 floors at a time, and when coupled with post-tensioned floor/ceiling slabs, construction times are reduced even further It allows us to strip our formwork quicker, which then in turn allows us to commence internal finishes much sooner....in most cases up to 4 weeks per floor quicker. It's also incredibly cost effective when compared to conventional construction. and it also eliminates the need for "wet trades" on site, ie renderers and bricklayers.

We love it and wouldn't go back to conventional construction after using this system. Of course, it goes without saying that conventional construction still does have it's place within the industry.

You can do all sorts of things with precast...even floor/ceiling slabs that tie into the wall slabs, all sorts of patterns and finishes so you don't end up with great boring slabs of walls...

 

Joanna,
Is there any web site you are aware of I can see this kind of pre casting blocks ?

 

we're using www.sasso.com.au

but there aren't too many pics on their site...

 

Got it ........Thanks ...

 

Hi

Last year I completed a building in WA (HMAS Stirling) using Tilt up construction. This building was over 3000m2 in size and included 2 storey elements (6m concrete panels) to house a Vertical launch System.

It was a much quicker construction method and it saved considerable $$$ as it was impossible to get bricks and bricklayers in Perth/Rockingham region at the time due to the over heated market.

 

Thank you for that Sasso link Joanna. I thought the residential unit builds looked pretty good (The Redfern example). The building sites don't look too accessible either so it would be interesting to see how the costs compare, brick to slab. Its all food for thought. Maybe we will see more of this in the future.

 

Hi Brinkdude. Would you be able to post some pics of your build? Did you have a large site to work on? With decent access?

 

Hi Tizzy,

My understanding was that building with the concrete tilt-up panels was too expensive compared to other methods in WA (there was also an article some time back in The West, saying anything below 3 stories wasn't cost effective), I believe its one of the fastest growing methods though....throw in pre-constructed Kitchens and Bathrooms and things look interesting