Christchurch Hospital – Steel Framing Solution Meets Seismic Requirements

Main Products Used

USG Boral Metal Wall Studs and Track designed using a G550 grade steel, MultistopTM 4, Firestop® & SHEETROCK® plasterboard.

People Involved

Acute Services Building, Christchurch Hospital, CPB Contractors, Jacobs Engineering

Project Scope

To develop a steel-framed solution that meets IL4 standards and simplify the number of different board types with multiple functions.

Special Factors

The USG Boral developed solution uses 100,000LM of USG Boral Metal Wall Studs and Track designed using a G550 grade steel to provide exceptional strength. Additionally, by using the USG Boral plasterboard, the specified wall linings were reduced to only three types of technical plasterboard.

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STEEL FRAMING SOLUTION MEETS SEISMIC REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW CHRISTCHURCH BUILD

USG Boral worked with CPB Contractors and Jacobs Engineering to develop a steel-framed solution that meets IL4 standards for the new Acute Services Building at Christchurch Hospital.

Currently being constructed by CPB Contractors, the Acute Services Building at Christchurch Public Hospital is the largest government project of the Canterbury rebuild. The 62,000m² building will house 12 new operating theatres and procedure rooms, an expanded intensive care unit and emergency department, a state-of-the-art radiology department and inpatient ward blocks for 400 beds — including purpose-designed spaces for children.

USG Boral has been involved in the project from the early design stages, and was tasked with working with CPB and Jacobs Engineering to develop a steel-framed alternative to the specified timber-framed walls — a move which will eliminate moisture issues and help reduce construction time.

As the building has been designed to importance level 4 (IL4) standards, seismic performance was also key. “It’s a challenge to come up with a steel-framed solution that meets those seismic requirements,” explains Bill Hill, Project Manager, CPB Contractors. 

The USG Boral solution developed uses 100,000LM of USG Boral Metal Wall Studs and Track designed using a G550 grade steel to provide exceptional strength.

In addition, a range of USG Boral plasterboard solutions has been specified for the project. “A simplification of the partition types is what we were trying to achieve,” explains Bill. “Over 200 different wall types were originally specified. We went to USG Boral to come up with a way of simplifying that as they have a number of different board types with multiple functions.”

The final specification features just four plasterboard types supplied by USG Boral: Sheetrock, Multistop and Firestop Boards. Multistop 4 Technical Board will be the most extensively used, with 110,000m² specified for wall linings due to its exceptional moisture, fire and impact resistance and good acoustic properties. “With the one board we can cover a lot of different scenarios,” says Bill.

With installation of both framing and plasterboard well underway, CPB are pleased with how the project is progressing. The Acute Services Building is due for completion in late 2018.

 

Project: Acute Services Building, Christchurch Hospital
Contractor: CPB Contractors
Engineer: Jacobs Engineering
Product Supplier: USG Boral
USG Boral Technical Advisor (plasterboard): Richard Boreyko

 

 
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