Original Thinkers Podcast Tasmanian Timber

The Timber Processors: Andrew Morgan is Co-Founder of Hydrowood. Hydrowood is a company driven by innovation and sustainability within the timber industry. As a specialist in timber drying and processing, Hydrowood utilises cutting-edge technology to responsibly source and process submerged and salvaged timber, transforming it into premium quality wood products for various applications. Their commitment to environmental responsibility is evident in their practices, ensuring the preservation of valuable timber resources while minimising waste.

" So, it is treasure hunting; whenever we take people to the lake and it's the first time they're there, it is captivating. People will watch it, because there's that mystique, that reveal. So, as that tree comes up, it might be a beautiful blood-red Myrtle, or it might be Huon Pine, or it might be a Celery Top Pine – we extract a number of different species. And so there's always that mystique of what's it going to be next? And it really captures people. And you can sit there for an hour, or two hours, and people are just quite happy watching trees being harvested. It's quite an amazing experience."

originalthinkers.com.au/andrew-morgan


Links & Show Notes:
HydrowoodHydrowood – story and videos of the processArticle: Hydrowood - a vast resource reclaimedCSAW – The Centre for Sustainable Architecture with WoodSpecies – Tasmanian OakSpecies – MyrtleSpecies – Celery Top PineSpecies – Huon PineSpecies – BlackwoodGreen Star RatingsArticle: Limestone HouseHydrowood | Project – Limestone HouseArticle: Parliament HouseHydrowood | Project – Parliament HouseArticle: Innovation House
Episode Sponsor:
Tasmanian Timber

The Timber Processors: Shawn Britton is Managing Director of Britton Timbers. Britton Timbers is a family-owned and operated Tasmanian business with a long and proud history spanning more than 110 years. Specialising in the sustainable harvesting, processing, and marketing of Tasmanian specialty timbers, they cater to both domestic and international markets. With a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, Britton Timbers offers a wide range of timber products, including high-grade sawlogs, veneer logs, and craftwood, meeting the diverse needs of the timber industry.

"From the forest through to the finished products that we manufacture, waste is critical to minimise, but it's also not looking at certain things as waste, but as opportunities. At the end of the day, sawdust is a product from the logs. So, our local pool is heated with woodchips, and a flower farm up the road, they use our sawdust. We supply the boiler fuel for McCain's Potato Factory. Everything gets utilised, and that's pretty important to us as well."

originalthinkers.com.au/shawn-britton


Links & Show Notes:
Britton TimbersBritton's HistoryArticle: Tasmanian VeneerSpecies: Tasmanian BlackwoodSmithton & Circular Head DistrictJames Fitzpatrick – The Seed HouseThe Forest Practices SystemArticle: Timber Certification ExplainedPEFC – Forest CertificationSTT – Sustainable Timber Tasmania
Episode Sponsor:
Tasmanian Timber

The Growers: Justin Baily is a Forest Steward and owner of Baileaf. Baileaf offers tailored solutions designed to help private landowners and trusted partners manage their forests and land in a way that promotes biodiversity, builds community, and enhances their vitality and value for future generations.

" This is particularly relevant to the architectural space because the architect will be in a position to say, not only are we using these materials for these particular inputs, these materials have come from these particular areas, within this farm, this farmer took them down for these reasons, and there's some sort of market differentiation, which can happen.There's provenance. "

originalthinkers.com.au/justin-baily


Links & Show Notes:
BaileafPrivate Forest Estate - Native forests and plantations on privately owned landThe Federal Government Policy to plant a billion trees by 2050Tree AllianceThe Forest Practices AuthorityGreening AustraliaThe Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme (ACCU)PEFC – Forest CertificationFSC - Forest CertificationArticle: Certification ExplainedForest Practices Officers
Episode Sponsor:
Tasmanian Timber

The Growers: David White is the Forest Manager for Sustainable Timber Tasmania – a Tasmanian Government Business Enterprise that manages approximately 812,000 hectares of public production forest in sustainable ways.

"My old wildlife professor used to say, forestry is not rocket science. It's ten times more complicated. The misconception, once you go and burn it, that's it, the forest is gone. Well, it simply isn't true; there's a whole set of natural processes, it's evolved over millennia that eucalypt forest burns from time to time and it burns incredibly hot. Animals know how to move away from smoke, and then they know how to recolonise back. Plants have seeds that get ground-stored and then released during a fire, and so the biodiversity comes back and that probably is the biggest misconception – once you've done it, then you can't have it back. Nothing could be further from the truth."

originalthinkers.com.au/david-white


Links & Show Notes:
Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT)Forest Practices AuthorityForest Practices OfficersTasmania’s Chief Forest Practices Officer – Anne ChuterFireSTT Quality Standards for Managing Native ForestSeed ZonesSwift ParrotCUSPPEFCMichael Berger (PEFC) – Podcast EpisodeFSCArticle: Timber Certification Explained: What you need to know about FSC and Responsible Wood
Episode Sponsor:
Tasmanian Timber

Marius Myking, Director of Product Design at Snøhetta, is a strategic designer and creative force leading the charge in sustainable design and innovation. With an illustrious career marked by an array of prestigious awards, including the 2021 Dezeen Sustainability Award, Marius leverages his international expertise and strategic insight to connect industry, markets, and technology, creating designs that positively shape our future.

"At Snøhetta, the most important project is Snøhetta itself. We believe that we can change the world through architecture and design; architecture and design are of the most important tools to evolve society, to evolve behaviour, and to learn from – and sometimes we're able to gain a big impact and sometimes a smaller one. But, always pushing ourselves to explore, to get even better."

originalthinkers.com.au/marius-myking

Links & Show Notes:


SnøhettaLibrary of AlexandriaIkeaIngvar KampradThe Academy of Arts in BergenAsak Flyt (Norwegian outdoor pavers)Sintef (research company)The La Crosette (Cannes Promenade)Studios of SnøhettaDovre MountainsHosted by Claire BennettProduced by Simon Brooke
Episode Sponsors:


Tasmanian TimberCusp Building Solutions

James Fitzpatrick, the visionary founder of Fitzpatrick and Partners, leads one of Australia's top commercial architectural practices. His award-winning design studio, boasting a talented team of 45 architects, continues to set industry standards through their innovative architectural solutions.

"One of the things I'm really keen on is looking at different levels of housing. How do we start to solve our housing shortage problems in Australia? To be clear, that's a worldwide problem – but how do we do it in a smart way of doing beautiful homes for people, but at different tiers that they can afford? So in some ways, stop talking about it and time to actually do something about it."

originalthinkers.com.au/james-fitzpatrick

Links & Show Notes:
Fitzpatrick + PartnersNIDAGlen Smith and AssociatesGlobal Emissions Built EnvironmentEmbodied Carbon Design ToolCross-Laminated Timber (CLT)Glue-Laminated Timber (CLT)Radiata PineAustralian Institute of ArchitectsArchitects DeclareLiving Building ChallengeFSCPEFCWood SolutionsArticle: Launceston’s mass timber building a glimpse into the built environment futureIKEA Tiny HousesIKEA Skanska Joint VentureBuckminster FullerSainsbury CentreBiophiliaCUSP Building SolutionsBritton TimbersHosted by Claire BennettProduced by Simon Brooke
Episode Sponsors:
Tasmanian TimberAbelwood by Neville Smith Forest Products