Author: Kelly Rischmiller

ARC Advance Timber Hub research reached an international audience when Node/Project Leader, Dr Liam Ottenhaus, presented at the 13th meeting of INTER (International Network on Timber Engineering Research), held in Ås, Norway, from 24 to 27 August 2026.

About AS/NZS 1720.1

The development of the joint AS/NZS 1720.1 Timber Structures Standard represents a major shift toward aligning timber design across Australia and New Zealand. The revision addresses modern timber construction, including mid-rise and mass timber construction with modern fastening methods.

Dr Ottenhaus serves as a committee member of TM-010 (the Standards Australia technical committee tasked with Timber Structures and Framing) and is a key contributor of the standards revision project, particularly regarding timber connection design.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub’s Project 1.2 team are supporting the revision with dedicated fastener and connections testing, and data analysis of contemporary and historical test data. This work helps inform validation of calculation models and calibration of formulae.

About INTER

INTER is a global forum which brings together researchers and experts to exchange recent advances in timber engineering and to contribute to the development of practical guidance for timber design codes and standards.  The 13th meeting of INTER was hosted by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) at Vitenparken, Norway.

The Queensland Government has released Prosper 2050 Delivering Now 2026–2030, Queensland Future Timber in Focus, translating the long-term ambitions of the Queensland Future Timber Plan 2050 into tangible and measurable actions for the next five years.

The Queensland Future Timber Plan 2050 focuses on five key pillars:

• Supply — securing sustainable timber resources for housing, construction and industry.
• Supply chain and market development — enhancing competitiveness on an international scale.
• Regulatory framework — modernising regulation in a way the community supports.
• Workforce — building and retaining a fit-for-purpose workforce in rural and regional economies.
• Research, development & extension (RD&E) — leveraging innovation to modernise the forestry and timber sector.

These priorities are being progressed through a series of five-year actions designed to strengthen Queensland’s forestry and timber industry and support its long-term sustainability and growth.

The following priorities listed in Prosper 2050 Delivering Now 2026–2030  closely align with the ARC Advance Timber Hub’s vision to transform Australia’s future built environment by advancing timber innovation, enabling industry-wide change and strengthening the timber value chain to deliver lasting social, environmental and economic benefits:

1. Identify opportunities throughout the forestry and timber supply chain to improve resources and timber recovery rates from available supply.
2. Seek to influence the national policy agenda to ensure compliance pathways in the National Construction Code appropriately reflect the use of timber as a viable option.
3. Explore procurement opportunities to influence ‘timber first’ by leveraging the policy impacting procurement mechanisms in the Queensland Procurement Policy.
4. Co-develop a Research, Development and Extension Strategy that identifies research priorities to drive supply chain innovation, investment, diversification and productivity in a coordinated manner
5. Trial novel silvicultural and agronomic activities to increase productivity of native forests and plantations at scale to demonstrate their effectiveness.
6. Facilitate ongoing and existing research and extension through funding and in-kind support into:
   a) Innovation in wood fibre products, circular design/circular economy and reuse of wood offcuts and processing residues
   b) Plantation genetic improvements and silviculture
   c) Commercially viable timber manufacturing and production processes for a range of wood products including prefabricated and modular construction.
7. Promote how sustainable wood value chains generate social, economic and environmental benefits, and the specific benefits of Queensland timber products to the broader public, investors and key markets.
8. Explore opportunities for the promotion and use of Queensland timber and the benefits of timber construction across multiple projects for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Career boosting, capacity building grants – don’t miss – apply before 19^th October 2026!

The Gottstein Trust Skill Development Grants, Fellowships and Scholarships,  awarded annually, supports innovation and professional development within Australia’s wood products and forest industries. For decades it has provided opportunities for leaders to advance the science and application of timber in the built environment.

Grants are open to anyone in the Australian sector. They could be a saw doctor, mill or machine operator, GIS analyst, forest ecologist, harvest planner, farm forester, tree geneticist, timber product engineer, marketer, tree nursery expert or a forest scientist, PhD researcher, TAFE student, architect.

To learn more about this opportunity, see 2026 Gottstein Trust Grants, plus the online application forms are at https://gottsteintrust.org/grants-courses.

The ARC Advance Timber Hub is proud to showcase this career defining opportunity. Some of our investigators have been successful in receiving Fellowships over the years, including ARC Advance Timber Hub Director, Professor Keith Crews.

To learn more from their stories see:

1. Professor Keith Crews: My Gottstein Fellowship Story
2. Adam Faircloth’s Gottstein Fellowship Study Tour – Exploring the Global Understanding of Timber Vibration and Acoustics
3. Dr Maryam Shirmohammadi completes Gottstein International Fellowship on Moisture Management in Mass Timber Buildings

 

Dr Zidi Yan, Chief Investigator at the ARC Advance Timber Hub, has been awarded a Timber Queensland 2026-2027 Growth Scholarship Award – the $5,000 AKD Award. The scholarship supports individuals pursuing learning and development opportunities that will strengthen both their careers and Queensland’s forest and timber industry.

Dr Yan’s project, AI Driven Treatability Prediction for Queensland Softwood Processing, will explore how artificial intelligence, computer vision and machine learning can improve timber treatment quality assurance and treatment performance. By analysing characteristics such as sapwood, heartwood, density and visible defects, the research aims to improve treatment outcomes, reduce waste and enhance manufacturing efficiency.

“The timber industry has a significant opportunity to harness artificial intelligence and digital technologies in practical ways that improve productivity and confidence in timber products,” said Dr Zidi Yan. “My goal is to bring back knowledge, industry connections and practical ideas that can help Queensland timber processors make better and more informed decisions.”

A key component of the project will involve engaging directly with sawmills and timber processors across Queensland to understand real-world production environments and identify opportunities where AI can deliver practical value.

“I am keen to better understand how treatability challenges appear in real production environments, what data are already available, and where AI could realistically support existing processes and decision making.”

Dr Yan’s scholarship project will also include participation in international timber research forums, including either the International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRG) conference or the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2027).

Reflecting on the project, Dr Yan said: “Timber is such a beautiful material, but no two pieces are exactly the same. I believe AI gives us another way to better understand this variability, learn from the data we already have, and support more consistent and informed decisions.”

The ARC Advance Timber Hub congratulates Dr Zidi Yan on this achievement and looks forward to the industry impact of his research.

For further information please see:

Timber Queensland Media Release: AI, Data and Future Leaders: Queensland Scholarship Recipients Drive Timber Industry Innovation

Zidi Yan’s post on LinkedIn

ARC Advance Timber Hub Project 6.7 “Performance Based Architectural Design and Optimization Using Biomaterial and AR Assisted Discrete Assemblies” is developing new digital‑to‑physical design and construction workflows for timber buildings, integrating performance‑based design, biomaterials, augmented reality (AR) and human–machine collaboration to improve efficiency, accuracy, and sustainability in construction.

Dr Nic Bao, from RMIT, updated ARC Advance Timber Hub Stakeholders on the research via a webinar presentation on the 20^th May 2026. Dr Bao showcased how the project explores how advanced computation, artificial intelligence (AI), and immersive technologies can support lighter, more material‑efficient timber structures and enable more precise on‑site assembly.

The project has four key objectives:

• Design and Optimize Prefabricated Timber Design through computational design and topology optimisation, reducing material use and structural weight
• Integrate Discrete Assemblies for Modular Architecture, developing digital tools to designing processing workflows and assembly methods
• Use AR‑assisted assembly tools to improve accuracy and efficiency in the construction of modular timber components, aiming to reduce construction time and errors
• Establish a centralised information workflow, that integrates design, fabrication, and construction data to optimise design-to-delivery of prefabricated timber buildings.

Research Progress and Activities

The project team has delivered and tested multiple timber prototypes demonstrating performance‑driven structural optimisation and discrete assembly logic. Earlier prototypes explored optimised timber structures with advanced joint systems, AI‑assisted assembly strategies, and robotic handling of timber components. Recent work has expanded into human–machine collaborative construction, combining:

• AR‑guided assembly using head‑mounted displays
• Self‑developed robotic systems to assist with timber placement in inaccessible areas
• Real‑time structural feedback during assembly, linking physical construction with digital performance models

These workflows have been demonstrated through international workshops and conference‑linked fabrication activities, including a 30‑day collaborative assembly project completed by a small student team, combining on‑site and remote participation.

Engagement, dissemination and outcomes

Project outcomes have been widely shared through:

International conferences, workshops and exhibitions, including the recent CAADRIA 2026 (Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia Annual Conference 2026 “Humanistic Computation and Intelligence”)

CAADRIA 2026 – Human–Machine Collaborative Timber Structure Assembly Using Relative Robotic System

During CAADRIA 2026, the project team led the workshop “Human–Machine Collaborative Assembly Using Relative Robotic System”, which explored robotic modular assembly for timber structures. Due to travel-related constraints, the workshop was adapted from an originally in-person format into a hybrid model, combining on-site AR-assisted assembly with remote robotic operation using our self-developed relative robotic system.

The workshop was led by Dr Ding Wen ‘Nic’ Bao and Prof Yi Min ‘Mike’ Xie, and the teaching team Harlan Zhaonan Guo, Jason Zhan, and Yang Yu. Together with the participants, the team constructed two small-scale timber prototypes using 3D-printed joints, mixed-reality guidance, and robotic assembly workflows. The prototypes served as testbeds for the broader research agenda within the ARC Advance Timber Hub, particularly under the Manufacturing Innovation research node 6.7 Project, which investigates future pathways for timber architecture, adaptive structures, and scaffold-free construction.

The workshop introduced participants to relative robotic systems, a construction approach in which robots navigate directly on partially assembled structures rather than relying on fixed ground-based reference frames. This enables more adaptive, mobile, and spatially responsive assembly processes. Participants worked in groups to develop assembly strategies for a modular timber truss system, using parametric design tools, robotic simulation, mixed-reality workflows, and on-site prototyping to evaluate feasibility.

A related peer-reviewed paper, “Parametric Joint Design for Irregular Timber Mixed-Reality Integration for Adaptive Human–Machine Assembly”, by Harlan Guo, Nic Bao and other co-authors, was accepted and presented at CAADRIA 2026.

Publication link:
https://papers.cumincad.org/data/works/att/caadria2026_508.pdf

Workshop link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hdpIZliaQX8TCNz-Ti24pKDMc3rZxYRJI-lLOKhdI64/edit?usp=drive_link

Workshop leaders: Dr Ding Wen ‘Nic’ Bao, Prof Yi Min ‘Mike’ Xie
Teaching team: Harlan Zhaonan Guo, Jason Zhan, Yang Yu
On-site AR fabrication lead: Harlan Guo (on site)
Remote robotic fabrication lead: Jason Zhan (remote)

Fabrication Team:  Fabrication Lead: Harlan Guo
Participants: Huanyang Li, Juntao Li,Kwong Lau Hung, Masaya Tanaka, Mengdi Mao, Mohamed Aboeloyoon, Pok Yin Victor LEUNG, Sakiko Noda, Samuel Leder, Sherlock Tsai, Ting-l)
Tsai, Yi Ru Liao
Technical support: Fologram and Karamba3D
Academic support: RMIT University RMIT Architecture RMIT College of Design and Social Context National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

In addition, Dr Nic Bao was honoured to have been re-elected as the Secretary of CAADRIA for another term, and advised “It is a privilege to continue serving the CAADRIA community and supporting the development of computational design research across the Asia-Pacific region.”

International conferences, workshops and exhibitions, cont.

1. News on Wood Central Platform – Future ‘Out-of-Grade’ Timbers Can Be Used in Long-Span Structures – https://woodcentral.com.au/future-out-of-grade-timbers-can-be-used-in-long-span-structures
2. Melbourne Design Week, Reimagining Timber – https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2025/apr/return-to-melbourne-design-week
3. World Conference on Timber Engineering Expo, Reimagining Timber – https://www.advance-timber-hub.org/hub-news/reimagining-timber-adaptive-structures-from-out-of-grade-wood

Peer‑reviewed publications

1. Conference Paper: REIMAGINING TIMBER: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH OF RESOURCE EFFICIENT FABRICATION PROCESS FOR TOPOLOGICALLY OPTIMISED CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER SLABS
2. Conference Paper: ARCHITECTURAL TOPOLOGICAL FORM-FINDING INTEGRATING SOLID STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCES
3. Journal Article: TRANSFORMING ARCHITECTURE: THE ROLE OF INTERDISIPLINARY COLLABORATION IN DESIGN AND FABRICATION.

Industry Impact

This project positions timber as a high‑performance, digitally enabled construction material for contemporary architecture. By demonstrating integrated workflows from design through to assembly, and by combining AR, robotics, and performance‑based optimisation, the research demonstrates how emerging technologies can:

• Reduce material use and structural weight in timber systems
• Improve construction accuracy and reduce on‑site errors
• Enable more flexible, modular, and scalable timber architectures
• Support future digitally enabled construction practices in Australia and internationally

Next steps

The project team is progressing toward larger‑scale assembly demonstrations, expanded robotic integration, and further industry‑relevant prototypes, alongside continued HDR training and international collaboration. For more information, please view “Performance Based Architectural Design and Optimization Using Biomaterial and AR Assisted Discrete Assemblies”.

Image credits / above image: CAADRIA 2026 / Harlan Guo 

ARC Advance Timber Hub Project “An Open-Data Framework for Forest-to-Building Value Chain Mapping” is addressing a major challenge for Australia’s forest and wood products sector: how to better understand, visualise and coordinate data across the entire value chain – from forest resource through processing to buildings.

Project Leader, Associate Professor Joe Gattas, from The University of Queensland School of Civil Engineering, presented at the FWPA Webinar – Navigating a Changing Landscape: Challenges, Opportunities, and Innovation in the Timber Industry, on the 21^st April 2026.  Below is a summary of the projects research outlined in the webinar presentation.

Why this research matters?

Research and data relevant to timber supply, processing and use are currently spread across many institutions, projects and datasets. This makes it difficult for industry, government and researchers to:

• See how domestic timber resources are really being used
• Identify inefficiencies and lost opportunities across the supply chain
• Test how changes in forestry, processing or building design affect outcomes such as resource efficiency, supply resilience and local manufacturing capability

This project responds by creating an open, integrated data framework that supports clearer communication, better decision‑making and more coordinated action across the sector.

What the project has achieved so far?

Measuring Timber Consumption

Early work has explored different ways to measure timber consumption in buildings.

• A geospatial “Timber Tracker” mapped timber volume per building across regions, helping separate housing density from timber use. While visually powerful, it offered limited insight for decision‑making.
• A “trees per building” material flow analysis followed timber from forest through sawmilling into a typical house, revealing the significant gap between the timber seen in a finished building and the processing effort required to produce it. This highlighted how grade recovery and product choices significantly affect resource efficiency.

Together, these early studies helped reframe timber use as a system‑wide issue, not just a building‑level metric.

Complementary Models

The project has now progressed to linking two complementary models:

• A production model, tracing timber from forest resource to recovered products, including sawn timber and co‑products such as panel products and mill residues.
• A consumption model, tracking how much timber is used by different building types.

By linking these models, the framework can trace timber flows from forest resource through to specific building outcomes, bridging established construction markets (such as lightweight timber framing in detached and low‑rise housing) with mass‑ and hybrid‑timber applications.

Frame-and-Truss Fabrication Data

A major advance has been the use of detailed frame‑and‑truss fabrication data, developed in collaboration with industry partner Multinail.

Using data from 53 real residential projects, timber use has been analysed by:

• Structural subsystem (walls, floors and roofs)
• Component type
• Size, length and grade of timber

The findings – now being prepared for publication – shows where timber is used within typical housing and confirms the dominance of machine‑graded pine (MGP). This level of detail enables far more accurate modelling than previous high‑level estimates.

What-If Scenarios

With production and consumption models now linked, the framework can be used to explore “what if?” scenarios. For example:

• How would changes in framing design alter sawmill input requirements?
• Could fibre or grade substitution increase timber use while reducing overall processing effort?

This capability gives sawmillers, fabricators and builders a shared, evidence‑based platform for practical discussions about improvement, and provides the foundation for commercial case studies being taken forward with industry partners.

What is next?

The next phase of the project will focus on:

• Finalising and publishing the detailed fabrication data analysis
• Applying the framework to additional building types, including mass‑ and hybrid‑timber projects
• Working with industry partners to test real‑world scenarios to support investment and design decisions

By making timber flows clearer, comparable and open, the project is helping industry and policymakers understand how changes at one point in the system affect the whole – supporting smarter use of Australia’s domestic timber resources.

Learn more

Conference Paper: TIMBERTRACKER: AN OPEN-SOURCE WEB FRAMEWORK FOR VISUALISING SUPPLY AND DEMAND IN FUTURE CONSTRUCTION TIMBER VALUE CHAINS

For further information or to follow project progress, visit the project page:
An Open-Data Framework for Forest-to-Building Value Chain Mapping – ARC Advance Timber Hub

An Open-Data Framework for Forest-to-Building Value Chain Mapping

Through its project Performance of Building Components – Fire Safety Design of Open Plan Timber Compartments, the ARC Advance Timber Hub is addressing a critical knowledge gap in the fire safety design of modern mass‑timber buildings: how exposed timber ceilings behave in large, open‑plan compartments such as offices and commercial buildings. These spaces are increasingly common, yet current fire design guidance is largely based on testing of timber in floor‑like (face‑up) orientations, not ceilings.

The project, led by Associate Professor David Lange and incorporating the research work of PhD candidate Josh Madden, from The University of Queensland School of Civil Engineering, brings together researchers and industry partners to generate new, design‑relevant evidence to support safe, performance‑based fire engineering solutions for timber buildings. Associate Professor Lange presented to ARC Advance Timber Hub Stakeholders a project update via a webinar series on the 26^th May 2026.

Project Design

The project focuses on a key gap in fire design guidance, which is in understanding how timber ceilings ignite and how flames spread once ignition occurs in large spaces, without significant internal separation, such as offices and commercial buildings.   The project is designed to provide the experimental evidence needed to reduce the uncertainty of how timber behaves through a unique multi‑scale experimental program with three key test areas:

1. Bench‑scale testing

Small‑scale laboratory tests are being used to study:

• Ignition delay and critical heat flux of timber in both face‑up and ceiling (inverted) orientations.
• The influence of gas flow velocity, representative of ceiling jets, on ignition and flame spread.

2. Intermediate‑scale compartment testing

The research then scales up to a one‑eighth scale compartment, allowing rapid testing of many variables under controlled conditions. These tests examine:

• Fire size and flame impingement on ceilings
• Ventilation and ceiling jet velocities
• The influence of ceiling obstructions (e.g. beams)
• Different fuel types and fire scenarios

A controlled gas burner is used to generate repeatable fire plumes, with detailed instrumentation measuring temperatures, gas velocities and heat fluxes beneath the ceiling.

3. Full‑scale fire testing

Full‑scale compartment tests are being prepared at the Queensland Fire Department (QFD) live fire and heavy rescue training facility at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy (QCESA), located on Whyte Island at the Port of Brisbane. These tests focus on fire dynamics rather than structural performance, using full‑size CLT ceiling panels to confirm that the mechanisms observed at smaller scales remain valid in realistic building conditions.

A total of 32 CLT slabs donated by Next Timber are being heavily instrumented with thermocouples and heat‑flux sensors. The full‑scale program is designed to validate the experimental framework and provide confidence for real‑world application.

Key findings to date

Results emerging from the project demonstrate that:

• Orientation matters: Timber ceilings behave differently from timber floors. Critical heat flux for ignition is similar for both orientations; however ignition occurs later and more variably when timber is installed as a ceiling.
• Ventilation and ceiling jet velocity are critical: Flowing hot gases significantly increase flame attachment and flame spread along ceilings.
• Multi‑scale consistency is achievable: The same governing fire dynamics can be observed from bench scale through to full scale when experiments are carefully designed.

Industry engagement and outcomes

This project has strong and ongoing industry involvement, with partners contributing to experimental design, interpretation of results and application to practice. Key outcomes to date include:

• Peer‑reviewed journal papers accepted in Fire Safety Journal on timber ceiling ignition and fire safety strategy.

1. ORIENTATION EFFECTS ON THE IGNITION OF MASS TIMBER CEILINGS: A BENCH-SCALE INVESTIGATION
2. THE FIRE SAFETY STRATEGY

• Conference presentations in Australia and internationally:

1. IGNITION OF A TIMBER CEILING: ANALYSING CONVECTIVE AND RADIATIVE HEATING EFFECTS
2. COUPLING FIRE AND MASS TIMBER STRUCTURES: A CHALLENGE FIRE SAFETY DESIGNERS MUST ADDRESS
3. BURNING BEHAVIOUR OF A TIMBER CEILING: A BENCH-SCALE INVESTIGATION
4. A METHOD TO STUDY IGNITION OF INVERTED COMBUSTIBLE SURFACES
5. RETHINKING FIRE SAFETY FOR TIMBER BUILDINGS: IGNITION, SPREAD, AND PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGN

• Regular project meetings that keep industry partners closely engaged as results emerge.

The project team is continuing testing through 2026, with design‑focused guidance and publications expected as results are consolidated.

Learn More

For further information or to follow project progress, visit the project page:
Fire Safety Design of Open Plan Timber Compartments – ARC Advance Timber Hub
https://www.advance-timber-hub.org/project/fire-safety-design-of-open-plan-timber-compartments/

Timber buildings have long defined Brisbane. From the classic Queenslander home to the bones of the Teneriffe woolstores, wood has been at the heart of the city’s built environment for over a century.  

With the eyes of the world turning to Brisbane for the 2032 Games, we have an opportunity to combine this heritage with cutting-edge construction technology to demonstrate mass timber construction to a global audience.  

Timber is a renewable resource, it stores carbon rather than releasing it, and when a timber building is designed and built properly, can be disassembled and reused for future projects. It is one of the few ways the built environment can actively reduce emissions.  

But the window to influence the design and procurement for Games construction is closing. The barriers to building infrastructure projects out of timber are no longer technical, they are commercial and procedural.  

Instead, the holdup is now in ensuring decision makers have the confidence across five key areas: program and delivery certainty, cost escalation and commercial risk, supply capacity and sequencing, procurement integrity and compliance, and risk allocation across design, manufacture and construction.  

These are problems the industry can solve but require a different approach than showcasing designs.  

The Australian Research Council Research Hub to Advance Timber for Australia’s Future Built Environment (ARC Advance Timber Hub) researchers are creating new and innovative ways of utilising timber to increase modularity, to be designed for better disassembly, as well as improving procurement frameworks and supply chains.  

The proof that timber works for major buildings already exists locally and globally. In Australia, the new Sydney Fish Market, University of the Sunshine Coast’s Moreton Bay Campus, and Boola Katitjin at Murdoch University (the southern hemisphere’s largest timber building) have been leading the way.   

On a smaller scale, projects like QFES North Coast Regional Headquarters – Maryborough Fire & Rescue Station and Inala Infill Apartments show modern timber construction is taking place in government infrastructure and social housing across  South East Queensland.  

Globally, the Paris Games proved that timber was a viable product for Olympic infrastructure. The Paris Olympic Aquatics Centre is a timber-led hybrid structure that successfully hosted major sporting events in a high-humidity environment.  

We have already convinced designers. It is the decision makers, who tend to navigate back to the materials they are used to, that we still need to convince. We are moving from a period of education and advocacy to enabling decision making. Changing the conversation from ‘can timber do this?’ to ‘this is how you manage a timber build.’ 

To help change this conversation, The University of Queensland is hosting the Queensland Timber Trajectory forum in June. It will feature presentations and discussions from architects, engineers, designers and suppliers that answer the questions clients ask – why timber, and how to resolve any cost and procurement challenges.  

Brisbane has been building with timber for over a century. In 2032, it has the chance to show the world what that looks like at its best. We have the technology; we just need to make the decision.

This article was originally written as a Thought Leadership piece for the Property Council Australia by Dr Paul Matthew, The University of Queensland, School of Architecture, Design and Planning.  It has also featured on WoodCentral: Queensland Has the Technology to Build the 2032 Games in Timber

Featured image is the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services North Coast Regional Headquarters and Maryborough Fire and Rescue Station, and is courtesy of Baber Studio. Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones.