Sunshine Coast Airport begins timber roof installation in terminal redevelopment

Installing about 30 tonnes of engineered timber has begun at Sunshine Coast Airport as part of its A$170 million terminal redevelopment. According to the airport, the finished building will be Australia's first mass timber engineered terminal.

The timber, called glulam or GLT, forms the terminal's raking roof frames, which the airport describes as a defining architectural feature. The design comes from the Australian team at Populous: Fentress Studios, working with builder McNab.

The airport says using timber instead of conventional steel and concrete lowers the structure's embodied carbon, with an estimated Global Warming Potential saving of about 40 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The material was also chosen to reflect the region's subtropical setting and character.

Robin Mace, the airport's general manager for projects and planning, said the frames will become one of the new terminal's most recognisable features and their installation shows progress on the investment.

Matt Findlay, principal and head of aviation for Asia-Pacific at Populous: Fentress Studios, said timber at this scale is rare for an airport project, since most terminals of this size rely on steel and concrete. The airport noted the timber weighs about as much as an adult humpback whale, a common sight on the Sunshine Coast migration.