Topic: This is Us

On-island collaboration achieving world class outcomes

Tasmanian businesses have taken a collaborative approach to producing world-class architectural products, that will soon adorn the state’s newest university campuses.

The collaboration has resulted in an end-to-end Tasmanian manufacturing process that will produce 2500m2 square metres of high-quality Tasmanian Oak veneered ceiling panels for architectural use in the University of Tasmania’s newest buildings.

Being able to manufacture these high-grade products 100% in Tasmania is an outcome that Britton Timbers Managing Director Shawn Britton is particularly proud of.

This collaboration ensures Tasmania could provide a world-class product, one that is all too often imported from South East Asia, as 100% Tasmanian product made and manufactured exclusively using Tasmanian timber and made on-island.

The process includes using native grown Tasmanian Oak that is finely sliced into veneer at Britton’s Somerset manufacturing facility. The veneer is then applied to locally made Ta Anne structural ply with the panels then being machined to the finished product by Merritt Joinery ready for final installation.

In Tasmania, we enjoy world-class forestry and sustainably managed timber products and it is exciting to see our local product creating so many local jobs and being used for domestic applications.

The Tasmanian timber industry is constantly developing exciting innovations which use timber and forest products in new ways to add value and keep manufacturing local.

The University’s new Burnie and Launceston campuses are due for completion in late 2021 and early 2022.