Hydrowood at the 2026 Green Design Show: Inside Pavilion 2

In July, Hydrowood travelled to Melbourne for the 2026 Green Design Show, joining a group of Australian architects, makers and material specialists to create Pavilion 2.

Held alongside Decor + Design at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from 15–17 July, the Green Design Show brought sustainable materials and design ideas together in a setting where visitors could see, touch and interrogate them.

Designed by Topology Studio, Pavilion 2 - Hydrowood - New Reclaimed Timber - explored a simple question: what if we considered what happens to materials after a space has served its purpose, before we build it?

The pavilion was designed for disassembly. Dowelled, bolted, slotted and interlocking connections allowed materials and components to be separated and recovered after the show, rather than becoming demolition waste.

For Hydrowood, it was an appropriate place to be. Our timber has already had an unusual first life, with the trees we recover today having stood in Tasmania's forests before being submerged by hydroelectric development decades ago.

But Pavilion 2 wasn't the work of one business. It brought together a group of collaborators with different approaches to materials, making, design and longevity.

Pavilion 2: Hydrowood - new Reclaimed Timber at the Green Design Show in Melbourne.

Topology Studio

Melbourne architecture practice Topology Studio and director Amy Hallett were responsible for the design of Pavilion 2.

The studio works across residential, hospitality and public architecture, with adaptive reuse and considered material selection forming part of its approach to sustainability.

For Pavilion 2, the temporary nature of the structure shaped the design from the outset. It would take two days to build, stand for just three and be dismantled in one. With Hydrowood at the centre of the material palette, the challenge was to create something impactful without compromising the future use of a timber that had already spent decades submerged beneath Lake Pieman.

The result was a pavilion designed to come apart. Timber, brick and glass were kept distinct, with dowelled, bolted, slotted and interlocking connections allowing components to be carefully separated rather than demolished. Repeated elements created rhythm and geometry throughout the structure while minimising waste and allowing the materials to retain a life beyond the show.

Pavilion 2 was designed by Melbourne architecture firm, Topology Studio.

XFrame

XFrame provided the modular structural system that formed the framework of Pavilion 2.

Precision-milled from engineered plywood, the XFrame system uses interlocking components to create structural panels that can be assembled, dismantled, reconfigured and used again. Unlike conventional construction, where changing or demolishing a space can leave materials damaged or difficult to recover, XFrame is designed so its parts and adjoining materials can be separated while retaining their value.

That made the system a natural fit for Topology Studio’s design intent. At Pavilion 2, XFrame provided the framework for a temporary structure designed with its next use already in mind. After three days at the Green Design Show, the system could be dismantled and its components recovered for future projects.

XFrame’s structural system provided the bones of pavilion 2 at the Green Design Show.

THIRTEEN Architectural Timber

THIRTEEN Architectural Timber worked closely with Topology Studio to bring the Pavilion 2 design to life, translating the architectural concept into beautifully crafted timber elements.

Among their contributions were the pavilion’s display shelves, including a striking Tasmanian myrtle timber piece inspired by the way timber is stacked in a seasoning yard. The layered arrangement created a direct visual connection to timber processing while providing a practical space to display Hydrowood species, samples and products.

With expertise in timber machining, profiling and custom architectural solutions, THIRTEEN helped turn Topology Studio’s ideas into carefully resolved details that celebrated the material and the craft behind it.

A Hydrowood Myrtle timber display shelf built by Thirteen Architectural Timber.

Bricolage

Melbourne furniture studio Bricolage crafted a collection of timber benches for Pavilion 2, using a variety of Hydrowood species including sassafras, celery top pine and blackwood in different forms and sizes throughout the space.

At the centre of the pavilion was an extraordinary table crafted from a single, giant slab of Hydrowood Huon Pine, recovered from a tree that was already centuries old before it was submerged beneath Lake Pieman.

Founded by furniture maker Dan Barker, Bricolage specialises in one-off and limited-run furniture using traditional furniture-making techniques, with reclaimed and recycled timbers regularly featuring in its work. For Pavilion 2, that craftsmanship gave some of Hydrowood’s most remarkable timber a new form and purpose.

A timber bench built by Bricolage from Hydrowood Celery Top Pine.

HausLights

HausLights brought locally made glass into the material mix.

Created through Melbourne's Hothaus Glass Studio, HausLights produces handblown lighting using traditional hot-glass techniques. Each piece is individually made, bringing the variations and character of handcraft into contemporary interiors.

The glass provided a striking counterpoint to the timber and structural materials used throughout Pavilion 2.

Handblown glass lighting by Hauslights.

Gibbon Architectural

Gibbon Architectural extended the pavilion's material story to what sat underfoot.

The Australian family business specialises in commercial carpets and handcrafted custom rugs, and created two bespoke rugs for Pavilion 2. One drew on the blues and shifting tones of water, while the other used greens and earthy hues inspired by the forest, carrying the landscape behind Hydrowood into the interior of the pavilion.

The two rugs added warmth and texture to the space while showing how colour and material could reinforce Topology Studio’s broader design concept.

A custom rug by Gibbon Architectural in the colours of water.

Littlehampton Bricks

Littlehampton Bricks & Pavers brought a selection of its handmade bricks to Pavilion 2, displayed alongside Hydrowood timbers on the custom shelving created by THIRTEEN Architectural Timber.

Based in the Adelaide Hills, Littlehampton has been making bricks for more than 130 years, using locally sourced clay and traditional small-batch kiln firing to create distinctive colours, textures and finishes.

The display gave visitors a closer look at the natural variation and craftsmanship behind the bricks, while adding another Australian-made material to the pavilion’s broader exploration of thoughtful material selection.

Twenty Nine Ideas

Twenty Nine Ideas brings a different kind of expertise to the partnership.

Founded by Julia Hall, the marketing and business consultancy has a particular focus on the timber and building industries. Julia also represents Hydrowood in Victoria, working directly with architects, designers, builders and industry partners to help them understand the material and how it can be specified.

That connection between materials, makers and the people choosing them is an important part of turning good ideas into real projects.

Hydrowood sales director and owner of Twenty Nine Ideas Julia Hall speaks with guests about Hydrowood at the Green Design Show in Melbourne.

Bowens

With more than 130 years in the building industry, Bowens is one of Victoria's best-known suppliers of timber and building materials to builders, architects and trades.

As Hydrowood's exclusive Victorian distributor, Bowens plays an important role in making our reclaimed Tasmanian timbers more accessible to projects across the state.

Product Specialist Frank Di Stefano and the Bowens team joined us at Pavilion 2, sharing their product knowledge and helping visitors explore how Hydrowood can be specified and used in projects across Victoria.

Bowens product specialist Frank Di Stafano talks Hydrowood with guests at the Green Design Show.

Three days, with a much longer view

Across three days, Pavilion 2 gave us the opportunity to talk with architects, designers, builders and material suppliers about Hydrowood and the wider question of how we use resources in the built environment.

It also showed what can happen when businesses approaching that question from different directions work together.

Then the show ended and Pavilion 2 came apart.

For a temporary exhibition structure, that was always part of the point. Instead of treating the end of the show as the end of the materials within it, the pavilion was designed with what happens next in mind.

Thank you to Topology Studio, XFrame, THIRTEEN Architectural Timber, Bricolage, HausLights, Gibbon Architectural, Bowens and Twenty Nine Ideas for being part of Pavilion 2, and to everyone who stopped by during the 2026 Green Design Show.