Tonsley Technical College showcase mass engineered timber

The opening of the State Government’s Tonsley Technical College marks a major milestone for South Australia’s forest and timber industries, which have proudly grown, manufactured and supplied much of the mass-timber material used in this state-of-the-art educational facility.

Purpose-built to train the next generation of technicians, tradespeople and innovators, the College is also a practical learning tool for South Australia’s builders, architects and developers.

While mass engineered timber has featured in high-profile local projects such as the Adelaide Oval Hotel and an apartment development in Kent Town, it is still not widely adopted across South Australian construction. The contemporary design of Tonsley, designed by DAS and delivered by Sarah Constructions, demonstrates how mass timber can be used at scale in high-performance buildings.

Chief Executive Officer of the South Australian Forest Products Association, Nathan Paine, said the project highlights timber’s role in decarbonising the built environment while supporting domestic manufacturing.

“Tonsley shows how local architects, builders and developers can deliver future-focused buildings that support South Australian manufacturing and help decarbonise the economy by storing carbon within the structure,” Mr Paine said.

“The College demonstrates the practical use of engineered mass-timber products, including cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufactured in Tarpeena, South Australia by NexTimber by Timberlink, and glue-laminated timber (GLT) supplied by Australian Sustainable Hardwoods from Heyfield in Victoria.

“By choosing locally manufactured timber over more carbon-intensive materials, the project supports forest growers, timber manufacturers and regional jobs, while reducing embodied emissions and locking away carbon for decades.”

According to the Association, the CLT and GLT used in the project are estimated to store more than 900,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent. When combined with local steel and concrete, the building’s total embodied carbon is 3,792,548 kilograms of CO₂-e, a 40 per cent reduction compared with a traditional build.

The project also reflects a renewed focus on South Australia’s sovereign capability to manufacture essential building materials locally. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the risks of relying on imported products and reinforced the importance of domestic manufacturing for economic resilience and national security.

As South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis recently said, “If we can’t make key building products ourselves and are entirely reliant on imports, in a changing and dangerous world that makes Australia incredibly vulnerable. COVID showed us the importance of having our own sovereign capability.”

Using South Australian timber in State Government projects is a practical expression of that principle.

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Source: South Australia Forest Products Association
Image credit: DAS Studio