Mass Timber Meets High Performance at The Illawarra Grammar School
The Rohrig team is proud to announce the completion of the Hoskins Building at The Illawarra Grammar School in Mangerton, Wollongong, delivering a cross-laminated timber (CLT) secondary school facility and built to Passivhaus standards.
This landmark Design and Construct (D&C) project provides a highly sustainable, world-class learning environment to accommodate increasing student numbers across the campus.
“The Hoskins Building Project represents our ongoing commitment to providing modern learning environments that prioritise rigorous academic learning opportunities and prepare our students for the future. This new space will foster innovation, collaboration and excellence. It is an exciting step forward for our School,” said The Illawarra Grammar School Principal, Dr Julie Greenhalgh.
The new multi-level facility features 10 general and specialised learning spaces, a junior library, an auditorium, external structural steel stairs, and a lift.
Atop the building, an expansive green roof featuring solar panels and native plantings enhances biodiversity, improves thermal insulation, and manages stormwater runoff.
The building’s design showcases mass timber elements, including Austrian cross-laminated timber panels and Glulam columns, paired with imported Austrian glazing and European Lignotrend ceilings.
Rohrig’s in-house design team added value from day one, managing the complex offsite prefabrication process. Because all service penetrations had to be factory-cut overseas in Austria to millimetre tolerances, our team led intensive upfront coordination with services consultants and architects to confirm exact pipe layouts before ordering.
We also implemented moisture control methods to protect the timber during transport and ran periodic blower door tests throughout construction to guarantee Passivhaus air-tightness compliance.
In accelerating the programme, our site team prepped the site for immediate construction, assembling the entire 4,000 sqm mass timber structure from the ground up in just five weeks.
Building within a live school campus introduced logistical challenges, which our site team managed through proactive planning and site safety controls. The shared site was safely fenced off using a gated student crossing system, with material deliveries strictly timed to avoid peak school drop-off and pick-up periods.
Rohrig also identified cost-effective solutions when asbestos was discovered early on site, significantly reducing costs for the school.
“Managing the offshore prefabrication and strict Passivhaus requirements required collaboration from our entire team,” said Rohrig Construction Manager, Dane Malone.
“Building the main mass timber structure in just five weeks allowed us to gain incredible momentum, while our site safety measures ensured the school could operate safely and without disruption throughout the build.”
The successful delivery of the Hoskins Building reinforces our dedication to building innovative, sustainable educational facilities that stand the test of time.