The Forest – where timber’s warmth meets design for deconstruction

The site, in the centre of Hobart, carries a layered history. What was once a brickyard and timber mill in the early 1900s, was later home to Forestry Tasmania, and now a CBD campus stitched back into the city’s fabric. Woods Bagot’s brief, developed with the University, was to give the institution a central presence that welcomed the public into the campus.

The studio organised the project around a series of “permanence plans”: the base building, its lift cores and fire stairs, are the fixed layer, while everything within it – walls, partitions, joinery – grows progressively more temporary and reconfigurable. Circularity was key to the material choices too, with the largest commercial application of hempcrete in Australasia, 60 per cent of the existing building retained, and a targeted 40 per cent cut to upfront carbon.

“To create an extra challenge for ourselves, the circle became our key geometry. Which meant finding a consistent diameter so everything could fit together, and eventually be taken apart again,” says Associate Phoebe Settle. Old-growth Oregon, some of it now on its third life after being remilled decades earlier brings natural warmth.

The project’s success was only possible through sustained collaboration with the client, stakeholders and contractors. The builder, Hansen Yuncken, was brought on from the outset, and Arup ran live life cycle assessments that fed back into decisions as they were made.

Projects like this set the bar high, and we’re proud to support such high-calibre work through our ongoing sponsorship of the Australian Interior Design Awards. It’s also the motivation behind our Think Good Micro-Grant, which puts direct funding behind architects, designers, makers and students exploring sustainable ideas within the built environment.

Project: The Forest, University of Tasmania
Architecture and interior design: Woods Bagot
ESD consultant: Arup
Photography: Peter Bennetts