The Carters Modular division of Futurebuild has moved to New Zealand
It's popular in the United States, Canada and Europe, where it has been well established for over 50 years. Now it is here in
New Zealand by Carters Modular, the only company in New Zealand to offer factory-manufactured transportable buildings.
Craig Brant, manager at Carters Modular factory explains the process, its advantages over traditional construction and how engineered building
products make it work.
Carters (incorporating Carters Modular) is a division of Carter Holt Harvey Limited – a New Zealand-based building supplies merchant chain
catering to the building trade and home-improvement market. Carters runs a high quality pre-nail frame and truss operation and with 39 branches
nationwide, they are a formidable player in the building market. Carters Modular is another avenue by which they can continue to add value to
their customers.
Modular construction differs from pre-fabricated building as the modules are assembled in the factory and then transported to site. With the
Carters Modular system, only on-site preparation and finishing is usually required.
The methodology provides the benefits of building within a controlled environment – consistent quality, dry timber, stronger units, improved
fire resistance and sound-proofing, and certification in the factory prior to delivery on-site. With factory construction, a building can be
completed up to one third faster than by traditional methods. Saving time usually means saving money according to Brant.
Carters is currently using the modular method with contractor Stanley Construction, for the development of fifty, two-level apartments at a
waterfront site at the popular beach destination of Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula.
The apartments have already been pre-sold even though the project is only three quarters of the way to completion. The apartments themselves
are all double storey with a monoslope roof, sloping from front to rear. A large variety of building materials have been used on the apartments
from plywood cladding, timber framing and plywood flooring to Hyspan Structural LVL and Hybeam Engineered I-Joists.
As Brant explains, LVL was used in many aspects of the design due to its superior properties. The floors are constructed all in one as a bed,
with Hyspan being used as the boundary joist for bearing the loads of the individual modular components while being transported. Its strength
and stability qualities assure Carters that the weight bearing is reliable and for the integrity of the structure. Hyspan’s long lengths around
the perimeter meant shorter beams did not need to be joined together. This saved time in the factory and meant that the bed was more
dimensionally accurate.
Hyspan was also used in the floor itself to trim around the stairwells and to support any point loads from above. Hybeam was used in the mid
floors, the I-Joists being ideal to cut holes that are big enough to get services through without harming the beam. Brant also used LVL to
frame the ceiling and says the structures are incredibly strong as a result.
Using the Carters Modular manufacturing method, assisted by the LVL, days were saved in the construction as builders could install two to three
floors a day. The units in the Whitianga project have all been transported on the two-hour journey to the Coromandel.
The majority have been lifted by crane onto site, and are now standing firmly and soundly near the white beaches of Whitianga.
For further information contact:
Futurebuild
phone: +61 3 9258 7600
fax: +61 3 9258 7629
web: www.chhfuturebuild.com
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