The Osbornes prefer the style and quality only available at Carter Holt Harvey  Don Osborne and his family wanted a comfortable, liveable house. A house that expressed his philosophy on architecture, that demonstrated the ideals of passive solar design, that was contemporary and not reliant on heritage for its character and one that utilised all the benefits of sustainable timbers. A very experienced architect of many years, Don Osborne was the owner-builder of 'Oz House' and achieved all of these aims, with the help of 'The A Team' and Hyspan Structural LVL by Carter Holt Harvey.
Oz House is built on a slope in the heritage village of Bangalow about 12 km west of Byron Bay. Don Osborne has an architecture business in the local area, sometimes extending to projects in Sydney and Brisbane. His practice covers commercial, industrial, heritage and residential projects. Having been in the business as both a designer and project administrator and now as a registered architect, Don had a clear idea of what he wanted in a home. Summing up his architectural design philosophy:
"The most important aspect of construction is getting the design right. Everything else that follows falls into place much more readily when the design works properly. As architects, we have the responsibility of being able to affect how people live. If our design can enhance their lives, they will live a more fulfilling life." Given the centrality of design for Don, he finds the reliance on "modern" heritage styles inappropriate for our contemporary lives. Living in the heritage village of Bangalow, where the features of the old properties are preserved and complemented where possible by new buildings, Don's challenge was to overcome the mistaken perception that any new home had to copy the old. "Houses built today should reflect the type of lifestyle we lead today," says Don, "and in doing that we create our own unique heritage which will be recognised in the future." To this end, his main specification for Oz House was that the builders not use timber from either rainforest or old growth forests and that overall they create a comfortable living environment using passive solar design principles. The site gently slopes away from the road and the house has been oriented to gain the maximum amount of passive solar benefit. Also, this orientation allowed for a lower floor area under the main floor of the house. Although the house features weatherboard to help it blend with the houses in the immediate area, the house has an unmistakably contemporary ethos. The western end of the house is protected from the intense afternoon summer sun by a garage featuring a curved roof. The roof for this structure was formed using curved steel beams supported on poles. Hyspan purlins were used to clear span the 6 metres between supports and achieve a significant overhang for sun and rain protection. The purlin tails were shaped back to a reduced depth at their visible ends for aesthetics. Don has used Hyspan products before over his career and was aware that they are capable of being very cost effective, providing large clear spans with minimal supports. However, the main advantage for him is that Hyspan is an efficient use of timber. The waste usually found when cutting large section timber members is greatly reduced. Radiata pine logs are peeled in a rotary lathe and the veneer then glued back together. This process reduces the strength reducing characteristics of timber, such as knots, providing a product with predictable and reliable structural properties far in excess of the raw material. "It allows what would usually be waste timber to be used effectively in a structural situation in buildings and will help reduce the demand made on our forests," says Don. Quality is high on Don's mind and Hyspan provides peace in this regard with its independent third party auditing by the JAS-ANZ accredited Plywood Association of Australasia. Though cost was not a high priority on this job, Don was still pleasantly surprised at how economical Hyspan was in this instance. 'The A Team' found them easy to use; two people could comfortably lift and hold the 7 metre lengths of 300 mm x 45 mm Hyspan while they were bolted into place. 'The A Team' are Craig, Adam and Donny, a group of highly trained and skilled carpenters who work with Don whenever he has a residential project that requires really high quality craftsmanship. Oz House was one of these and according to Don, 'The A Team' are very proud of the results. The Osbornes are now living comfortably. The neighbours love Oz House too and Don's clients want the same features in their designs. And Don himself? The house has allowed him to express some different ideas in housing that he may not have otherwise had the opportunity to do and to achieve this while still designing a house suited to Bangalow. As he says of Oz House: "I believe the character and style of the house integrate well into the immediate surroundings so it maintains an harmonious feel." But the biggest benefit he says is the comfortable living environment that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. 
For further information contact:
Carter Holt Harvey
phone: 1300 658 828
fax: 02 9468 5890
web: www.chhpanels.com.au
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