Hebel Matters

Big advantages using hybrid Hebel with bathroom pod wall systems

Manufactured offsite and delivered ready to connect to services, pods offer big advantages to builders. Sounds simple. It is if you have well planned onsite logistics and use the right type of bounding wall systems.

This is where Hebel walls systems step in like no other. Accepted as the better way to build because of quality, speed and easy NCC compliance, these benefits go even further with bathroom pods. The reasons may not be obvious at first glance.

 

Bathroom pods are making fast inroads into student accommodation, hotel and apartment projects – reducing risks and shortening timelines.

A simple acoustic compliance solution

Pods typically include steel stud framing which can be delivered with acoustic insulation already installed within the pod module. The pod wall external lining is usually added onsite. However, this is only one part of what makes up the complete acoustic rating solution for an apartment bounding wall.

The other is the Hebel intertenancy, corridor or shaft wall system which includes a perimeter wall above the pod ceiling level. As in all Hebel systems, the PowerPanel wall construction is a significant contributor to the wall acoustic rating.  It’s then simply a matter of installing a perimeter stud wall system above the bathroom pod ceiling level extending to the slab soffit to achieve NCC acoustic compliance – bearing in mind the pod itself requires insulation and lining to the system specifications.

Easy fire-rating compliance

Fire rating walls systems using pod units is straightforward and easy because the Hebel PowerPanel wall construction is the fire-rated element that achieves the fire performance for the bounding wall construction. What’s more builders and installers consider Hebel systems the easiest to achieve NCC fire (and acoustic) compliance when it comes to services penetrations through bounding wall systems.

Fire sealing Hebel wall leaf construction at soffit, required on one side only.

A multitude of installation advantages

The installation advantages Hebel systems deliver over other types of bounding wall systems centre on the Hebel PowerPanel wall system design.

To begin, it can be installed from one side only. This means it’s easy to add the section adjacent to the pod unit in situations where the pod has previously been placed in its final position. There’s usually a 300mm space between the top of the pod and the slab soffit so each Hebel PowerPanel element can be fixed at the back as you go – just two screws for each 600mm panel. Fire sealing is done from the other side of the wall.

Next, stop and start wall installation is not only possible, it’s easy. Working in 600mm wide panel increments or less, Hebel PowerPanel walls can be stopped and started at any point, allowing access for services installation and manoeuvring pods or materials.

Then there’s workspace and site logistics, a critical part of pod and wall installation. Because of the Hebel PowerPanel wall system design and compact PowerPanel packs you have room to move and manoeuvre according to plan. Before walls are installed, bathroom pods and Hebel panels can be placed in units, ideally in sections according to pod deliveries.

Maximised design efficiency, minimised wall space

Five systems have been design by CSR Hebel covering intertenancy / party, corridor and shaft walls to provide maximum design efficiency with minimised wall width. The details of these systems provide a clear picture of the Hebel wall system constructed alongside the off-site manufactured pod units, making it easy for architects, designers and builders to specify the most economical systems for each pod project.

Hebel intertenancy, corridor and shaft wall systems for bathroom pod projects. Data sheets and CAD drawings available at www.hebel.com.au

Experience points to the Hebel advantage

Builders and wall installers who have worked with the Hebel systems on pod projects recognise the big advantages they deliver in terms of project efficiency and risk minimisation. Well over 4,000 apartments including student accommodation and hotels have been built using the Hebel hybrid systems – with many more on the way.

If you’re planning a project using bathroom pods give CSR Hebel a call on 1300 712 896 for further information or visit www.hebel.com.au for the system details.