23 National Circuit

23 National Circuit is a new six-storey commercial development and DOMA’s new national head office. The building is Canberra’s first Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) office building, setting new environmental standards for the ACT market. Prioritising sustainable design, the project targets a 5.5 NABERS Energy rating and a 6-star Green Star rating. DOMA aims to achieve this by replacing concrete with timber, significantly reducing the building’s embodied carbon.

At Holmes, our team led the fire safety engineering and structural fire analyses for this project. From a structural perspective, the building had stringent requirements of structural robustness in fire. A series of advanced analyses was carried using SAFIR and CFD modelling to determine the resistance to fire. Our team of specialist structural fire engineers justified the design and demonstrated the robustness of the timber building under fire exposure.

Additionally, a fire safety strategy was developed demonstrating safe travel distances in the building, fire hydrant coverage, green wall façade on the external wall, and discharge from fire-isolated stairs. A special hazards assessment was also undertaken to address the risks posed by Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) charging stations within the basement carpark.