With a focus on locally sourced, natural materials and innovative design, the new Wulugul Pop Up development at the edge of the Barangaroo waterfront is touted as Sydney’s most exciting and vibrant temporary space. Big River’s Blackbutt Armourpanel, together with recycled cardboard tubes, are at the heart of the installation and enabled designers and specifiers Foolscap Studio along with private construction firm CJ Duncan, to achieve a thoughtfully designed urban oasis that replicates the unique forms and natural colours of the surrounding landscape.
Overall, 80 standard sheets (2400 x 1200 x 18mm) of Big River’s Blackbutt Armourpanel made from native Australian timber, were used across the 170-metre-long design scheme for seating, garden edges, stool tops, sign boards, table tops and TV enclosures, creating an engaging, multi-functional communal space for local residents, workers and visitors. Big River also supplied the project with framing pine, structural and Lauan plywood for the various structural and decorative applications within the site.
Foolscap Studio specified Big River’s Blackbutt Armourpanel as their design scheme focused on local and sustainably sourced materials that would be durable in this challenging location. “Due to the area’s close proximity to the waterfront, we needed a hardwearing timber product that would not only be able to
handle high levels of people traffic, but which would also be durable enough to withstand the elements the area is regularly exposed to,” comments Josh Black, Commercial Director at CJ Duncan. “The immense durability of the hardwood veneers used in every layer of Armourpanel made it the natural choice for us and delivered the strength, resilience, stability and impact resistance we needed for this project. ”
Part of the 22-hectre Barangaroo development ‘The Streets of Barangaroo’, the Wulugul Pop Up opened to the public in November last year and runs along the length of Wulugul Walk. It hosts a number of modern food stalls, drink kiosks, co-working areas and lush communal garden spaces filled with pockets of native greens, which will mask the incoming restaurant spaces until they are unveiled later this year. Black further adds, “Working with Big River has been great. They really took the time to find a material that would meet our exact specifications and were able to deliver the right product within a relatively short timeframe. We’re really pleased with the outcome of the project. The panels look fantastic and will remain in perfect condition for visitors to enjoy over the coming months.” 
Big River Armourpanel is Australia’s strongest decorative plywood and has been designed, tested and approved to tolerate extremes of heat and humidity, and to resist shrinkage. Its tolerance of changes in ambient temperature and its toughness make it ideal as flooring, ceiling or wall linings in hard-wearing areas.
Every panel is made from layers of Australian eucalypt hardwood veneers bonded together to form a strong, solid, stable panel. Available as a 2400 x 1200 sheet or optional 1800 x 1200, every sheet is individual and manufactured in Australia under the Plywood Association of Australia’s third party audited quality control program and milled from managed regrowth and plantation forest hardwoods. It is Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certified.
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About Big River
With over 110 years in the timber industry, Big River Group manufactures and distributes timber and steel formwork products, timber flooring, structural plywood and related timber products and distributes a broad range of other building products, primarily to the commercial and residential, non?residential and infrastructure construction market segments.
The Company has a network of 10 sales and distribution centres across Australia and sources its products from both its own manufacturing facilities and also many Australian and international manufacturers of building products. The Company owns and operates manufacturing facilities at Grafton and Wagga Wagga in NSW.
Involved in the Australian timber industry since the early 1900s, Big River adds more value per cubic metre of log than any other operation in the NSW hardwood industry. Big River’s range of timber flooring includes decorative timber products combining the aesthetic value of hardwood timbers with the structural qualities of an engineered product.
