Steel Frames Direct - Broadmeadows, Melbourne Project
Melbourne, Victoria
Steel Frames Direct provides light gauge steel framing, helping customers avoid delays due to the chronic timber shortage.
With the help of Steel Frames Direct, Rendition Homes built 25 new homes in Broadmeadows, Melbourne.
Steel framing offers a faster, more accurate solution with less waste onsite.
These frames are manufactured by a Howick FRAMATM 3200 machine using Vertex design software, creating an extremely efficient workflow.
As Australia’s chronic timber shortage continues to bite, Melbourne-based Steel Frames Direct is helping construction clients stay on top with a superior light gauge steel (LGS) solution.
Compared with traditional timber framing suppliers, Steel Frames Direct offers a reliable supply chain and a faster, more accurate solution that produces less waste onsite.
With intelligent engineering solutions, the latest digital design integration software, and the Howick FRAMA™ 3200, Steel Frames Direct consistently produce steel framing to exact specifications, at speed, and in high volumes.
And that was precisely what Rendition Homes needed to ensure the success of their recent Broadmeadows project in Melbourne.
The Project: Broadmeadows, Melbourne
In Broadmeadows, Rendition Homes planned to build 25 new homes, each two to three stories high and offering 145m2 of liveable space.
But with the limited supply of structural timber already causing problems on other builds, Rendition Homes decided that standard construction methods were too risky. So instead, they specified the readily available material LGS as their preferred framing solution and engaged Steel Frames Direct.
The process: partnership to production
Steel Frames Direct worked with the Rendition Homes team to scope the project in detail before preparing as-built documentation for approval and manufacturing all the components required.
This included roof trusses, wall frames, floor joists and more.
The Howick FRAMA™ 3200 was a standout performer for this job, says Steel Frames Direct Managing Director Tony Foti.
It is the go-to workhorse for standard framing requirements and outputs 89mm framing profiles with impressive speed and cost-effectiveness.
“Over time, Howick machinery has proven itself to be more accurate and precise, operating at a faster speed and working with more efficiency as opposed to its competitors in the market.”
“The technology and parts are of a higher standard than most, providing us with reassurance every time we turn the machine on and commence fabricating.”
The seamless integration of Vertex design software, which automates the design and manufacturing process, also helps create an extraordinarily efficient workflow, says Toni.
“Using Vertex software saves time and allows us to quickly generate accurate architectural drawings, structural layouts, material reports and manufacturing data.”
Fast on-time construction with less waste
Where significant delays had threatened before, construction could now move ahead on schedule.
Steel Frames Direct delivered all the framing to the site for each project stage on schedule. Rendition Homes then framed the houses in just one to two days, thanks to the accuracy and simplicity of steel framing.
As a bonus, this approach also reduced onsite waste to produce a more environmentally friendly outcome.
Steel Frames Direct: Melbourne’s backbone of steel
Steel Frames Direct is a Melbourne-based business that provides complete LGS solutions for projects of all sizes, including residential, commercial and industrial. Or, as Steel Frames Direct succinctly put it: “We make things happen”, and Melbourne’s building industry is reaping the rewards.
Benefits delivered:
- Reliable supply chain during timber crisis
- Houses framed in 1-2 days
- Reduced waste onsite
