Paul had the fortunate opportunity last week to jump on a plain with John Fitzgibbon (CLOS) and head down to the north coast of Tasmania to visit CLTP Tasmania (Cusp).

CLTP is a young Tasmanian company that offer flexibility of timber species, production quality and design adaptability. Our recent visit, emphasised the advantages of their product, particularly for Class 1 residential projects.

Their CLT product is produced from sustainably forested plantation hardwood from Tassie (Eucalyptus Nitens). This is different to the large players in the market who work on volume of timber through the factory, where it is costly to stop the run for specialist interventions.

The hardwood product is stronger than the normal softwoods used in CLT panels, so has the capacity to span further for less thickness (timber mass). The visual face is more readily exposed and when finished has a favourable design appearance, similar to Vic Ash. CLTP Tasmania can also lay the face boards with alternative hardwood species (Eucalyptus Grandis), which is slightly warmer in tone.

The use of locally sourced CLT products potentially takes away a lot of the time negotiating with much larger overseas players, who are good but involve added time, costs and emissions for transportation.