RAA In Practice | VITAL Online Lead Up Event | a Breakthrough in Hempcrete | Alastair Flynn & Klara Marosszeky

The Session

Alastair Flynn of Woods Bagot and Klara Marosszeky of the Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance will speak about the University of Tasmania (UTAS) Forestry Building restoration. Woods Bagot is restoring and redeveloping the former Forestry Building in Hobart CBD as the centrepiece of the University of Tasmania’s Southern Campus Transformation. The project reimagines the site as an inner-city hub learning/collaboration hub, its campus unified by landscape and public pathways through the site. Hempcrete, a carbon-negative construction material, will be used extensively in the University’s Forestry and Timberyards redevelopment. Dungog builder Shane Hannan is working on the hempcrete structures, which will exceed 207 cubic metres, making it the largest commercial use of hempcrete in Australia.

Alastair Flynn
Alastair Flynn is an Associate Principal with Woods Bagot, with wide experience in public buildings managing multidisciplinary teams on complex construction projects. He is project architect on the University of Tasmania redevelopment, leading the design and adaptive reuse of the heritage-listed Forestry Tasmania building. Operating from studios in 17 major cities across six regions globally, Woods Bagot places human experience at the centre of its work to deliver uplifting, future-oriented places.

Klara Marosszeky
As founding Chair of the Australian Industrial Hemp Alliance (AIHA), Klara Marosszeky has worked in the Australian hemp industry since 1999 in farming, construction research, education and project management with projects located across Australia. She works with a network of hemp processors spanning 5 states. Her research at the Australian Centre for Construction Innovation (UNSW 2000–2006), led to the development of a low embodied energy Hemp lime building material for the Australian market. Further research at UNSW (2019-20) and at UTS (2021-24) has investigated hemp building methods across thermal and acoustic performance and indoor air quality. With a background in land management and education, Klara trains Builders, Owner Builders and Building Designers in Australia and New Zealand in hemp construction and design.

RAA members are eligible to utilise the discount code available in the member content area for free attendance of this session.