When visitors step inside the University’s Forestry Building on Melville Street from 2026, they’ll be met with verdant canopies, cascading foliage and carpets of lush groundcover.
A temperate forest comprising 3500 plants including trees, shrubs, ferns and climbers is being reinstated inside.
Landscape architects REALMstudios have designed the reinvigorated green space with the help of Robert Morris-Nunn who imagined the original forest that once flourished on site, along with the 22-metre-high heritage-listed glass dome arching above it.
Deliberate design elements that mimic a natural rainforest environment will create a microclimate with optimal growing conditions to support the living feature to thrive.
An irrigation system designed specifically for vegetation inhabiting the space will generate moisture through mist and fog.
There will be ponds that rise and subside during and following high-rain events through a smart system recording weather data on the roof while capturing rainwater.
A large fallen tree, also serving as seating, will bring the benefits of fungi into the space to support the emerging ecosystem while other micro-ecologies will be integrated through bark mulch, rocks, lichen and moss.
“This project is difficult and not commonly undertaken. We are hoping for results as good as the original forest, but only time can tell. With the range of tree species and sizes we can safely hedge our bets we will have a unique outcome,” Ben Roberts, Senior Design & Technical Facilitation with REALMstudios said.
Trees unique to Tasmania including Leatherwood, Sassafras, Myrtle and Celery Top Pine are among the greenery that will be added inside the re-created urban conservatory, and since 2022, preparations have been underway to select these.
Working with the project team, Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) provided access to self-sown saplings of these varieties along the verge within a southern coupe earmarked for future clearing.
“The site was explored 18 months earlier, where the desired species were located, and the intended removal methodology was envisioned with Westland Nursery. We then had to wait until we were in the midst of winter when the trees were dormant and less fragile to remove,” Ben said.
During August, trees previously identified and tagged were extracted with their root balls under SST supervision and taken to Westland Nurseries at Seven Mile Beach.
They will continue being nurtured there until ready to be transplanted into soil at their permanent home.
Work by past and present project teams had identified what plants thrived in the original forest before it declined due to lack of water under previous ownership.
These, along with other native varieties, including plants like Huon Pine, Telopea truncata (Waratah), Anopterus glandulosus (Tasmanian laurel) and Pomaderris apetala (Dogwood) will be integrated into the landscape.
More than 30 species that will adapt to various microclimates throughout the project will be supplied by local nurseries which specialise in propagating natives in Tasmania.
They will be carefully positioned in topsoil with a depth of 300mm that connects to structural terrain further below.
Small saplings will rise through the taller transplanted trees accompanied by Dicksonia Antarctica (Man Ferns) contributing to a diverse understorey thriving in an interconnected soil profile that shares moisture, nutrients and fungal networks, accommodating water flow and room for roots to exchange and grow.
Project Manager Rose Stranan said the University was proud to be continuing the legacy of adaptive reuse and rejuvenation of the site.
“The Forestry redevelopment honours the past while adapting the site to accommodate the needs of teaching and learning into the future. We are privileged to have great minds, such as Robert Morris-Nunn and Jim Gandy here in Tasmania who have contributed to the architectural landscape in such a significant way it has inspired what we are doing today,” Rose said.
As the visionary who first imagined the urban forest concept, architect Robert Morris-Nunn is thrilled to be part of its revitalisation.
“The fact that former urban forest created 30 years ago is again being recreated is truly wonderful. The fact that the university is giving this revitalized forest environment to now become a space openly shared with the general public is more than I could ever have hoped for. It will be unique,” Robert said.
The University is restoring the Forestry Building to become an inner-city learning and teaching hub that will host student, staff and community activities.
The overall redevelopment has been designed by Woods Bagot and is being delivered by construction company Hansen Yuncken.
Once complete, the site will feature contemporary and accessible teaching and learning facilities including technology-equipped classrooms, study zones and publicly-accessible spaces, places to connect, and a thoroughfare linking Melville and Brisbane Streets that will be open to the community.