Kerto-Q timber panels clad music therapy centre in Penrith

Metsä Wood’s cross laminated Kerto-Q timber panels have been used in the construction of the Sunbeams Music Centre near Penrith.

Kerto-Q was specified for its inherent strength and large sheet sizes which has allowed the building’s key complex features to be completed quickly and efficiently.

The almost complete Sunbeams Music Centre comprises a single-storey structure, partially embedded into a sloping hillside to minimise its impact on the surrounding landscape. 

The centre will provide a new home for Sunbeams, a music charity founded by harpist and singer Annie Mawson in 1992 and will act as a music therapy and training base for people with disabilities.

Constructing timber pods from Kerto-Q

A key element of the building’s design is three timber pods on the front elevation which have been designed to resemble large musical notes. The pods range in size from 40 square metres to 100 square metres and provide space for meeting rooms, therapy rooms and musical performances.

Kerto-Q is a load-bearing, bracing and dimensionally stable LVL panel used in the most demanding structures.

Metsä Wood’s Kerto-Q products was chosen to clad the three pods and building roof due to its flexibility, strength and sustainable properties. The panel is produced from renewable, raw materials and stores carbon, therefore boosting the building’s environmental credentials.

Each of the pods are made up of complex, six-sided shapes which splay outwards from ground level, break halfway and then splay back inwards.

To achieve this, the Kerto-Q panels were specified in a range of different length, the longest 9.6 metres and the two main widths, either 1.8 metres or 2.5 metres. Three different thicknesses ranging from 50mm to 69mm were used.

The panels were fitted to the steel frame with mechanical fixings, with an acoustic sealant placed in between for soundproofing. 

Roof and door panels

The Kerto-Q panels have also been fixed on top of a lattice of glum beams and timber columns to form the building’s 90 square metres roof and overhanging canopy. The roof was finished with a membrane and green roof covering.

Finally, the remaining Kerto-Q offcuts were re-shaped to form the project’s door panels as an added touch.

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