The Tonsley Technology College shows that South Australia has the capability to design and deliver the buildings it needs, from schools and homes to offices and hospitals, all using locally grown and processed timber. That is according to Nathan Paine, CEO of the South Australian Forest Products Association, who welcomed the opening of the new college yesterday, the second to be built using mass timber supplied by NeXTimber by Timberlink – Australia’s only cross-laminated timber and glulam facility – and Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH).
“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,” Paine said. “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.”
Designed by local architect DAS and delivered by Sarah Construction, the new college demonstrates the potential of mass timber for use at scale in high-performance buildings, with the decision to use CLT (from NeXTimber by Timberlink) and GLT (from ASH) resulting in the project storing more than 900,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide. 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.
According to Simon Angove, Timberlink Australia’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Tonsley demonstrates the strength of South Australia’s timber capability: “Projects like Tonsley show that South Australia already has the capacity to manufacture world-class engineered timber products locally and deploy them at scale,” Angove said. “This building demonstrates how locally made CLT and GLT can support jobs, reduce emissions and deliver outstanding buildings for the future.”
Please note: Wood Central will have an extended case study on this project in the coming weeks.
