Inspiration

Originally built at the turn of the 20th century, a classic heritage home along the tree lined streets of Sydney’s inner west suburb of Annandale, has just undergone a major makeover by the team from Sydney based architecture studio, Carter Williamson. Brought to life to meet this century’s demands but highlighting some of the home’s original quirks and attributes, ‘Concrete Blonde’ offers an oasis for its occupants to come home to that is tactile, warm and playful.

Having trained as an architect and interior designer with over 20 years of practice and a strong connection to academia, Andrew Simpson is the founding director at his own practice, Andrew Simpson Architects. Spending time studying, teaching and working in cities around the world, Andrew now calls Melbourne home but the learnings from his time abroad influence and inspire his projects today. Working on a range of projects including residential, university and healthcare, the studio’s latest project along the Great Ocean Road is what holiday home dreams are made of.

The Tasmanian Timber industry has come a long way in the last 50 years. From harvesting somewhere in the region of 1 million cubic metres of timber each year in the early 1970s, Tasmania now produces only 127,000 cube across the entire state – becoming a boutique industry with a sharp focus on sustainability and quality over quantity.

If you walk into any one of Tasmania or Victoria’s heritage homes, chances are Tasmanian Oak floorboards will be underfoot. Sturdily withstanding the wear and tear of generations, there’s a reason why this timber has been the flooring of choice in Tasmania and beyond for over a century.

Warm, dense and resilient, Tasmanian Oak is the preferred hardwood for a wide range of applications. It can be used in all forms of construction as scantlings, paneling and flooring, and can be glue-laminated to cover long spans. Veneers, plywood and engineered products are also available, as well as its use in furniture making. While each Tasmanian timber species brings forth different qualities and aesthetic attributes, the most abundant with the widest range of applications is Tasmanian Oak.

Consumers and professionals want to be assured that the timber products they specify or purchase are coming from responsibly and sustainably managed forests. But with multiple certification schemes available in Australia, it’s hard to know what the best environmental choice is. When selecting timber, first and foremost, consumers must select timber that hold sustainability certification. Forest certification shows that a timber product has come from a responsibly and sustainably managed forest. The two largest internationally recognised forest certification schemes are PEFC and FSC.