Rapidwall selected for bush fire re-housing in Victoria

Rapidwall selected for bush fire re-housing in Victoria

Rapidwall had been selected as a principal building product by The Victorian Government and Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction, Recovery Authority (VBRRA).

Link Builders, in conjunction with Watersun Homes, will start construction in September of the first “Bushfire Compliant” Rapidwall display home  to be built in Kinglake following the devastating fires that ravaged Victoria in 2009. 

 Designed by Buckerfield architects in conjunction Link Builders & Ezi-Rapid Solutions, the homes were developed in response to the Victorian Government’s call to ‘Design and Construct’ a 3 bedroom, single detached house that would be affordable, well-considered in design, innovative, energy efficient (6 star rating) and meet the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL 40) standards.

The designs, using locally manufactured Rapidwall, were selected for their flexibility, bushfire rating, aesthetic appeal and environmental sustainability.

 Geoff Tattam, General Manager Ezi-Rapid Solutions Pty Ltd said, “We had to combine a plan that was both Bushfire proof, economical for Rapidwall and at the same time architecturally innovative and aesthetically pleasing.”

 “We achieved this through a  unique massing concept in our plans which means that the standard Rapidwall modules can be varied to suit individual sites to produce many different designs, all using the same basic structure. The 3 bedroom Haven 01 design is priced from $150,000.”

 Rapidwall is an innovative Australian designed and manufactured product that received the 2009 Global Gypsum Product of the Year award for design, production, processing and innovation and was also awarded a “Good Practice” award by United Nations Habitat.

Last year Rapidwall donated its walling system and services and erected a Rapidwall home for a local fire victim. 

 Ezi-Rapid  Solutions, based in Melbourne, is Rapidwall’s distributor in Victoria. 

 The Kilmore factory, which employs 20 local residents, is also involved in exporting Rapidwall manufacturing equipment across the world.