ABSTRACT
Like most countries, Australia and New Zealand have a modern history of using concrete and steel for commercial construction but timber has a longer history. In New Zealand, native Maori settlements were built from timber and European settlement in the mid-1800s first established the tradition of wood framed housing and cladding that is still in use today throughout the two countries. The Old Government Buildings in Wellington, New Zealand, built in 1876 extensively with native kauri wood, is one of the largest wood office buildings in the world to this day. 1 Likewise, the 410 m long Woolloomooloo wharf in Sydney, Australia, finished in 1916, is the largest timber piled jetty in the world. 2 The industrial timber frame structures that run almost the length of the jetty today are refurbished and house a hotel, restaurant, and residential apartments. These historic structures illustrate the culture of wood in the two countries, which, with the availability and adoption of new engineered wood products and technologies, has continued to expand.
