The majority Australians have never experienced an earthquake. They have never felt the fear, nor have they had to deal with the aftermath that of an earthquake hitting their town or city.
Despite this, the majority of Australians know all too well the potential devastation an earthquake brings. They have heard the stories and seen news reports of the buildings destroyed and lives lost.
These stories reports hit closer to home than ever before in 2011 when New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch, was hit by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake which killed 185 people.
In addition to the tragic loss of life, it was the destruction of the built environment, the effects of which is still being felt today, that have left the longest lasting impact.
With 1000 of the 4000 buildings in the central district being demolished, including 110 of 220 buildings more than five storeys tall, the rebuilding of Christchurch could potentially cost an estimated $40 billion.
For Australian architects and engineers it brought to the fore some of the limitations in the current seismic design philosophies .
Whilst specific design requirements for seismic events have long been stipulated in building codes, there has not always been sufficient awareness or understanding for measures to be adequately implemented.
Evolving standards and the wide-ranging variations in requirements have made the application of these standards even more complex when applied to real life structures.
And for those architects and designers working on large publically funded projects, the stakes are even higher, where substantial loss of life is a distinct possibility.
To address the rising demand for projects requiring seismic designs and assist designers in bridging the knowledge gap of what is required for individual projects, Rondo has developed seismic wall and ceiling systems which can be tailored to suit a project’s seismic requirements.
Rondo offers free technical assistance for their systems, with engineers customising seismic designs to the needs of each project, simplifying the task for architects and designers and helping to ensure key design considerations including building classification, sub-soil, building height and probability of seismic design are taken into account in the specification of the right product.
To find out more about seismic design in Australia and how Rondo ceiling and wall systems can help ensure the best results, click here to download this free white paper “Seismic Shift – The Focus on Seismic Design in Commercial Building Projects”
