Eight Weeks on Site, How Exposed LVL Helped Build Oran Park’s New School

Open learning commons at Oran Park Public School with exposed laminated veneer lumber columns and beams, a plywood ceiling, ceiling fans and red soft seating, with operable glazed walls folded back to adjoining classrooms.
The learning commons at Oran Park Public School in south-west Sydney, where exposed NelsonPine LVL columns and beams frame an open plywood-lined hub. Operable glazed walls fold back to connect the commons with the adjoining classrooms; designed by Bennett and Trimble and delivered by Lipman, timber scope by Timber Building Systems. (Photo Credit: Mike Chorley)
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A public school in south-west Sydney has been delivered in less than 9 months, with its classrooms, commons, and building envelope built almost entirely from exposed laminated veneer lumber that doubles as both structure and finished surface. That is according to the project’s entry in the 25th Australian Timber Design Awards, lodged by head contractor Lipman in the Public Building category, which sets out how Oran Park Public School pairs engineered timber with a high pre-manufactured value to meet the NSW Government’s Manufacturing for Schools program and its push for faster school delivery.

Two-storey exterior of Building O at Oran Park Public School at dusk, showing a pre-cast concrete external stair, balustraded walkways and exposed timber soffits to the upper level.
The exterior of Building O at Oran Park Public School at dusk, with exposed LVL soffits lining the upper walkway and pre-cast concrete stairs and circulation kept clear of the timber structure. Architecture by Bennett and Trimble; timber scope by Timber Building Systems. (Photo Credit: Mike Chorley)

The two-storey school buildings were installed on site in just eight weeks, a sequence made possible by shifting the bulk of the build off-site. Some 320 prefabricated panels were transported on 44 trucks from Timber Building Systems’ factory in Dandenong South, Victoria, to the Oran Park site, where they were craned into place. With roughly 70 per cent of the structure in timber, exposed NelsonPine LVL runs through the primary columns and beams, the closed floor cassettes and the closed ceiling cassettes.

The cassettes do more than one job at once. Built from cross-banded NelsonPine LVL billets, they serve as a structural element, provide a finished ceiling lining visible from the storey below, and provide fire protection for the level above. MeySPAN LVL and meyJOIST engineered I-joists from Meyer Timber complete the engineered timber package. Timber Building Systems fabricated and installed the timber scope, working with NelsonPine to machine the LVL columns to exact dimensions for a visually seamless match with the ceilings.

Classroom at Oran Park Public School with an exposed laminated veneer lumber ceiling, white tables and chairs, timber shelving and a wall-mounted screen, with operable glazed doors open to daylight.
A classroom at Oran Park Public School beneath its exposed NelsonPine LVL ceiling cassette, which works as a structural element, finished lining and fire protection for the level above. Timber scope by Timber Building Systems. (Photo Credit: Mike Chorley)

Prefabrication Built for Speed on Site

The off-site approach extended beyond the timber structure. TBS supplied a fire-rated external wall system with pre-installed services and modular wiring, which meant sub-trades could begin work almost immediately after the panels were installed, compressing a program that would ordinarily run far longer. Lipman’s submission states that engineered timber was specified for its alignment with “modern methods of construction, accelerated delivery and low-carbon buildings.”

Detail of a homebase entry at Oran Park Public School, showing a tall red acoustic panel, geometric patterned glazing and an operable glazed door framing a classroom beyond.
A homebase entry at Oran Park Public School, where a red acoustic panel and patterned glazing meet the operable glazed wall system. Architecture by Bennett and Trimble; timber scope by Timber Building Systems. (Photo Credit: Mike Chorley)

The building achieves a 5 Star Green Star as-built rating, with exposed timber soffits delivered in a Class 9B building of Type B construction under the National Construction Code. The awards entry states that the exposed LVL solution “featured prominently in the sustainability strategy” for the school, supported by heat-exchange energy recovery systems serving every teaching space.

Bennett and Trimble led the architecture, with Bligh Tanner as structural and facade engineer and Lipman as the early contractor involvement partner and head contractor. The result is a school where the engineered timber is left on show, its supply chain, from NelsonPine’s LVL through to the fabricated cassettes, doubling as the finished interior.

Learning space at Oran Park Public School with rows of tables and black chairs beneath an exposed timber ceiling, lit by a full-height window wall with sheer blinds.
A learning space at Oran Park Public School drawing daylight through a full-height window wall, set beneath the exposed LVL ceiling. Architecture by Bennett and Trimble; timber by Timber Building Systems and NelsonPine. (Photo Credit: Mike Chorley)

Oran Park Public School was entered in the Public Building category of the 25th Australian Timber Design Awards, the 2024 edition of a program that recognised 15 projects. The awards have run for 27 consecutive years, a roll call that takes in World Buildings of the Year, Olympic venues, embassies near the White House and, in 2025, Archer Office’s reuse of a condemned 1892 boot factory in Bondi Junction.

Entries for the 27th Australian Timber Design Awards Now Open

Entries for the 27th Australian Timber Design Awards are now open. The program champions the industry’s best work, with every winning project carrying a supply chain story that runs from the forest through sawmills and engineers to builders. As organiser Kylan Low puts it, “Behind every winning project is a supply chain story that begins in the forest.”

Please note: Early-bird entries for this year’s awards close at 7 pm, Friday, the 29th of May 2026. For more information, visit the Australian Timber Design Awards’ how-to-enter page.