An earthquake-proof wooden building in Nelson is breaking the cycle of industrial concrete construction.
Nelson-Marlborough Technical Institute's (NMIT) new $9 million arts building is the product of a competition for sustainable design and a template for the industry.
Built using Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) beams and composite LVL and concrete floors, the three-storey building features steel-tensioned timber walls designed to rock in earthquakes.
It is the brainchild of the Nelson-based team of Irving Jack Smith Architects and the product of a competition, drawn up between NMIT and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which offered a $1m prize towards construction.
Wellington-based forestry policy analyst John Eyre said the ministry was not interested in building, but was interested in using wood.
The industry lacked confidence about using timber as the core in multi-storey construction, "So we decided we needed to break the cycle."
Architect Andrew Irving said the building's simple elegance belied the research behind it.
"We hope this is a building that can lead the industry in a new direction," he said.
John Finnegan, of Aurecon structural engineers, said the building's seismic design was the first in the world using timber.
The design allows the building's main walls to move with the earthquake's energy absorbed by connecting, and replaceable U-shaped steel plates.
It has been designed to withstand shakes the size of the recent Haitian earthquake with little or no damage.
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