Tonsley grows toward a greener future with new forest
Tonsley Innovation District’s collection of forests is growing again, with the plantation of a fourth and final green activation in the facility.
The ‘foyer forest’ officially opened near the entrance to TAFE SA’s Tonsley campus, and includes exotic, shade tolerant plants.
Its construction takes the total count of trees, plants and shrubs within Tonsley’s Main Assembly Building (MAB) to almost 4500.
The forest complements the nearby multi award-winning ‘central forest’, ‘lounge forest’ and ‘plaza forest’, which are known as the lungs of the MAB, and the Western Plaza park and new wetlands on the western side of the District.
Further greening to the eastern side of the MAB is also well underway and is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
The latest urban canopy - delivered by Space Landscape Construction - will act as a backdrop to three tablets or ‘outdoor meeting rooms’, which can be utilised by businesses within the District and as a flexible study space and casual lunch area for TAFE students.
Steel cylinders - painted green in a nod to the ‘Regal Green’ of the old Chrysler Valiant which was once assembled at Tonsley - dominate the centre of each table and will be spilling with greenery as the forest matures.
It is anticipated that a series of work pods and office tenancies will be build around the Foyer Forest in the future, mirroring similar, successful activations around the other MAB forests.
Each forest has its own unique character and sense of identity, including mistng volanoes in the Central Forest which are designed to modify air temperature and create a microclimate matched to the plant selection.
In addition to the thousands of trees and plants now greening the MAB, the District’s solar capacity will soon increase to five megawatts after practical completion was reached on a new array installed by CleanPeak Energy on the roofs of the TAFE SA and Line 0 buildings.
Once switched on and combined with the existing solar panels atop the MAB, they will collectively generate up to 80% of Tonsley’s energy demand.
A 10-megawatt battery will shortly be installed at the District to capture any excess energy and store it onsite for later use.
Recycled water, captured at the nearby Oaklands Wetlands, is also being used to maintain Tonsley’s streetscape during hotter months.
Meanwhile the Government continues to implement its plan to ensure consideration be given to the retention of trees during the planning and design phase of new builds, as part of the Expert Planning Panel’s review into planning.
Quotes attributable to Nick Champion
The urban forests align with Renewal SA’s commitment to create liveable and environmentally sustainable developments, and its push toward carbon neutrality as part of our pledge to fully offset emissions by 2050.
Because it’s undercover, and open to the community, it’s become an alternative destination to the traditional neighbourhood park.
Quotes attributable to Nadia Clancy
Tonsley is a hub for our community and one we are really proud of.
It is a space that celebrates the site’s past of car manufacturing and boasts new manufacturing and innovation, while providing gorgeous green spaces like this.
Quotes attributable to Oxigen Director and lead consultant for the Tonsley public real James Hayter
We underplay it in South Australia but overseas they are fascinated by this project.
The temptation might have been to demolish to Main Assembly Building but to adaptively reuse this post-industrial brownfield site in the way we have is an amazing sustainable outcome.
Media Contact
Pamela Perre 0447 525 822
pamela.perre@sa.gov.au
