Golden Light and Timeless Warmth: Nebraska House by Lara Maeseele Celebrates Tasmanian Oak
May 14, 2025
Tucked along the coastal northern tip of Bruny Island, Tasmania, Nebraska House is an architectural homage to light, landscape, and local materials, most notably, the refined, golden warmth of Tasmanian Oak. Designed by Belgian-born, Tasmania-based architect Lara Maeseele, the home represents a culmination of her values: sustainable design, strong materiality, and deep respect for place. Following the success of her award-winning Killora Bay project, also on Bruny Island, Lara was approached by the clients with a bold yet clear brief: create a spacious, light-filled family retreat using timber, with a particular emphasis on authenticity and durability. The result is a home where Tasmanian Oak is not just a material, but a unifying design language.
The Shed by Wardle
February 26, 2025
The Shed at the University of Tasmania by Wardle is a pioneering example of sustainable construction and the third instalment of the university’s Northern Transformation Program in Launceston. It embodies the university’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions through innovative timber use and low-carbon materials. A key sustainability initiative was the use of Eucalyptus nitens, a fast-growing plantation species initially cultivated for pulp. The project repurposed this timber for structural elements, veneers, and linings, showcasing the potential of locally sourced materials in large-scale, low-carbon construction.
Questions about Tasmanian Timber? Ask the expert.
January 6, 2025
In an industry with many highly knowledgeable people, few have the length and breadth of experience as Michael Lee. Michael, or Mick as he is known, has been in the timber industry in Tasmania for over 35 years. A former Production Manager at one of the largest timber companies in the state, and Operations Manager and General Manger at other major operations Mick knows Tasmanian timber like few others.
St. Lukes Flagship wellness hub by Terroir
September 23, 2024
St. Lukes is a Tasmanian-based private health insurance company with a mission to help Tasmania become the healthiest island on the planet. Having been in business for 70 years, their newly formed health and wellness hub in the heart of Hobart offers its members and the public a range of health and wellbeing-focused activities from yoga to new-parent classes and everything in between. Award-winning Tasmanian architectural firm Terroir was tasked with a brief to create a health-conscious space that would also inspire, draw new people in, and create excitement around their brand. With tight constraints from the existing building, Terroir drew inspiration locally and abroad, creating a health hub with a design that is world-leading and Tasmanian-inspired.
Heirloom House by studio mkn
September 9, 2024
After setting up her Melbourne-based interior design practice 6 years ago, Meredith Nettleton has been involved in many residential projects showcasing her eye for detail and commitment to excellent and enduring design. Her most recently completed home, Heirloom House, is included in this project list. As the name suggests, the post-war era home had been in the family for generations, and its design, charm, and materials were deeply cherished. Tasked with bringing the beloved family home into the 21st century without compromising beloved design elements, studio mkn played with a timeless and natural material palette. Masterfully creating a space that pays homage to the past while meeting the needs of a young family, the home is rich with texture and warmth and holds space for new and lasting memories to be made for generations to come.
Kanamaluka House by Gillian van der Schans
May 14, 2024
Kanamaluka House by Gillian van der Schans is a project grounded in sustainability. Championing the use of local materials, it is constructed in a way that allows its inhabitants to observe and experience the natural Tasmanian landscape and environment. The name of the home is the first nations name for the Tamar River. Kanamuluka House gracefully rests amongst the thriving and abundant flora and fauna native to the area. The brief called for a timeless aesthetic and a crafted home that would be a gathering space for the client’s young adult children to return to for family gatherings, a home that would act as a base for current and future generations. With these requirements in mind, Tasmanian timbers were chosen to build this family home for the owners to enjoy now and long into the future.
West Hobart House by Cumulus Studio
April 24, 2024
Drawing inspiration from a lifetime of exploring Tasmania’s lush and rugged landscape on foot, Cumulus Studio's latest completed project has been shaped by the trail less travelled. As passionate bushwalkers and enthusiasts of Tasmania’s Wilderness, the vision for West Hobart House emerged from the client’s deep connection to the land. With a palette reflecting the colours, tones, and textures reminiscent of Tasmania’s iconic bushwalking huts, Tasmanian Oak was chosen to help establish warmth and a connection to the beloved memories created along some of Tasmania’s treasured bushwalking trails.
Lady Gowrie Midway Point by Cumulus Studio
March 25, 2024
Set in Hobart’s outer suburb of Midway Point sits the newly designed and renovated Lady Gowrie Early Learning Centre. Originally built in the 1970s, the red-orange brick building required an update to deinstitutionalize the space. The brief was to create an atmosphere that would ease the anxieties of children and parents, fostering an environment that’s equal parts inviting and inspiring. Calling on the expertise of Tasmanian architecture practice Cumulus Studio, the centre has been reimagined establishing a strong connection to the natural environment through design and material selection. Grounded in principles of sustainable design, the centre challenges the existing model of Australia’s child care centres and places Tasmanian Oak at the fore.
Harriet’s House by SO:Architecture
February 21, 2024
Emerging architects Liz Walsh and Alex Nielsen have been busy launching their newly formed lutruwita/Hobart practice, SO:Architecture. Taking a nontraditional approach, SO:Architecture offers a highly collaborative design process, placing value on slow architecture and welcoming clients to challenge the brief to help understand and reveal opportunities within the design process. Using this method in their first project completed under the newly formed studio, Harriet’s House embodied the thought, collaboration, care, and high level of craft the project demanded to achieve its award-winning results. Located in Launceston on the lands of the Stoney Creek Nation, Tasmania, the extension to the heritage-listed Georgian cottage seamlessly combines two materials; locally sourced brick and Tasmanian Timber, strategically linking the project to place and the state’s proud manufacturing history.
Preserving Timeless Elegance: The Resilience and Sustainability of Tasmanian Oak in a Mid-Century Melbourne Gem
February 2, 2024
Melbourne architect Wilko Doehring has always held a long appreciation for modernist architecture. Born in Germany, his admiration for the Bauhaus movement translated to a love for Australia’s adaptation of mid-century architecture. So, when a light-filled property in Melbourne’s Beaumaris neighbourhood came onto the market, he and his wife acted quickly to secure one of its prized mid-century dwellings. As with many homes in this suburb, the three-bedroom house was compact, yet meticulously designed for maximum efficiency. Stripping the home to its core without compromising the integrity of its original charms, the couple were pleased to uncover Tasmanian Oak as the feature timber chosen nearly seventy years prior.
Darling Point Apartment by Studio ZAWA
January 3, 2024
Studio ZAWA is a Sydney-based architecture studio formed by architects Brian Zulaikha and Colebee Wright. With a focus on creating residential projects that boast texture, quality and craftsmanship, their latest project, Darling Point Apartment, fulfills this ethos- and then some. With a lifetime of travels and treasures to inform the brief for the reconfiguration of the 60s era apartment, a unique yet carefully restrained palette of materials makes up the sleek interior that reflect some of the client’s most cherished moments.
River’s Edge by Wardle
November 7, 2023
Following the opening of the University of Tasmania’s Inveresk Library by Wardle in early 2022, the second major building in the Northern Transformation Program is now complete. Designed as a pairing to the Willis Street Building, “The Shed”, to be completed in 2024, the latest building opened to students, staff, and the Tasmanian public in July 2023. With its sleek geometric lines and industrial exterior referencing the existing architecture of the area, the interior reveals a delightfully unexpected material palette. The brief and goals of the project required a material low in embodied carbon, a material that would challenge the traditional aesthetic of institutional settings and one that would support local Tasmanian jobs and businesses. The material chosen for meeting and surpassing these requirements? Tasmanian Oak.
Wattle Bird House by Flett Architecture
October 11, 2023
Winner of the 2023 Tasmanian Emerging Architect Prize, architect Scott Flett from Flett Architecture is making waves amongst Australia’s architecture and design community. His latest project, Wattle Bird House, has also been on the receiving end of numerous awards for its innovative design and casually luxurious feel. With layer upon layer of intricate detail demonstrating Flett’s extensive knowledge of building and design, his tenacious pursuit in pushing the boundaries of materials and conventional architecture is showcased throughout this proudly Tasmanian home.
Murphy’s Place by Studio Meek
September 28, 2023
Purchased in 2020 in Geelong Victoria by architect George Meek and his partner, the restoration and extension of Murphy’s Place was a practice of cohesion between the old and new. Incorporating a range of textures and materials to establish a defined delineation between the existing cottage and the new form, the playful update of the cottage is a beautiful showcase of fine detail, timeless material selection and expert design.
Tasmanian Oak wears the crown: Tiara House by FMD Architects
August 23, 2023
Not one to shy away from locally sourced and natural building materials, FMD Architects’ most recent residential project is a jewel set amongst the 19th century terrace houses in Melbourne’s inner north. Aptly named Tiara House, the renovated two-story Victorian terrace has received an update fit for a queen. Its sculpture-like crown form at the rear of the building offers a playful yet regal shape. Inside, splashes of bold colour are met with the haptic textures of the home’s original charms, an exquisite selection of marble and varying forms of the material FMD Architects’ return to again and again- Tasmanian Oak.
Thinking Paddock House by Open Creative Studio
June 5, 2023
Thinking Paddock by Open Creative Studio is a private family residence located 40 minutes outside of Hobart in the rural community of Sandford. This stunning outer-lying suburb is breathtaking, offering its residents spectacular views of the pristine Tasmanian landscape. The house is situated to face northwest over Ralph’s Bay, Droughty Point and in the distance, Kunanyi/Mount Wellington proudly rests. A project especially important to Open Creative Studio Principal, Daniel Moore, the home was designed as his parents “last house” and is a celebration of family heritage and the raw and natural state of this cherished pocket of land.
Tasmanian Oak a Favourite Signature
May 22, 2023
Constantly striving to push the boundaries to deliver projects that are different and unique is the driving motivation for Nathan Wundersitz, Owner and Design Director of South Australian firm SpaceCraft Joinery.
Timber Veneer Association of Australia Tours Tasmania
April 5, 2023
The Timber Veneer Association of Australia’s (TVAA) members have recently returned home from a Veneer Manufacturing tour of Northern Tasmania. Association members, who include some of the country’s leading furniture, component manufacturers and timber veneer manufacturers left with a thorough understanding of production and environmental credentials of Tasmania’s veneer industry, and an appreciation for the complexity and value of the sector.
Nelson House by Biotope
March 6, 2023
Originally built in the 1980s for use as a family home in Hobart’s suburb of Mt. Nelson, Nelson House was in much need of an update. With the children now grown and out of the house, the retired owners wanted to create an oasis that they would be able to call home for the next chapter of their lives. With sustainability at the front of all design decisions, the couple chose to keep the existing house but wanted a complete overhaul and restructure of the interior. Calling upon the help of Rosa Douramanis from Hobart architecture studio Biotope, the home has received a bright and sunny update that capitalises on both natural light and natural materials.
