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St Lukes hub is a natural beauty with Blackheart Sassafras

St Lukes is a Tasmanian-based private health insurance company that has been in business for 70 years, its 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. Source: Timberbiz 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. Covering two floors, the St Lukes flagship site required the 394m2 ground floor to be designed for both staff and guests, with an area exclusively dedicated to community use to promote their rotating health and wellness workshops, classes and offerings. The 178m2 second floor was designed for staff offices, meeting rooms and amenities. Taking note of other leading flagship stores around the world, Terroir Project Architect, Jack Andrews, says they looked to the natural beauty of Tasmania to bring their design to life. “St.Lukes prides itself on being uniquely Tasmanian. Having grown up here and exploring the forests myself, we sought to bring in shapes of tree hollows from Tasmania’s forests to create a space that stands out through its subtlety and serenity. We wanted people to come in and say ‘Wow!’ while maintaining a sense of calm,” Mr Andrews said. Tasmanian special species Blackheart Sassafras was used to achieve this serene and natural environment. Working with Vos Construction and Joinery, 1,500 hours went into creating the 3.6m high by 56m long form made from hand-selected Blackheart Sassafras veneer supplied by Britton Timbers. Suspended from the ceiling, the structure’s organic shape, tone and texture reflect the beauty found in Tasmania’s iconic and cherished forests. Of all Tasmanian timbers, Sassafras has the most variable and dynamic colouring. If the tree is infected with a staining fungus, it produces Blackheart Sassafras. Blackheart is a timber with distinctive dark brown, black, and sometimes green streaks running through the wood; no two pieces are ever the same. “We went through many sketches and spent a lot of time rationalising the design, ultimately creating a series of convex, concave and flat moments. We tried to keep the form as organic as possible. Using a species like Blackheart Sassafras with its striation and varying colours helped accomplish this. We simply couldn’t have achieved the aesthetic we were aiming for with a different species of timber,” Mr Andrews said. Using boat-building techniques to create the curvature of the timber, the veneer sheets were applied to an MDF backing, stretching the resource to ensure minimal waste. Opting for a natural clear coat with a 10% matt finish, the southeast-facing glazing allows the light to accentuate the variation of the timber veneer without reflection or glare. With the natural variation found throughout Blackheart Sassafras, Mr Andrews says Terroir spent countless hours aligning the veneer sheets before manufacture and assembly to ensure the design met their requirements. “We went through and took a photo of every single veneer sheet. From here, we developed a montage to work from, laying them all out and positioning them to avoid repetition to get the look of a natural hollowed-out log,” he said. “We are inspired by the availability of sustainable timbers in Tasmania. The ability to source and harvest timber locally, as opposed to a species sourced from further afield, was very appealing. It wouldn’t be possible without the credentials, forest stewardship and certification from a company like Britton Timbers.”