University of Newcastle Central Coast Campus

Client Lyons
Partners Lyons, Hansen Yuncken, APP
Services
- Civil
- Structural
Sectors
- Education
Value $60 Million
Location Gosford, NSW
Year Completed 2025

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Northrop Consulting Engineers delivered structural and civil engineering services for the University of Newcastle’s Central Coast Campus at Gosford – a timber-led education facility that sets a new benchmark for mass timber construction in Australia and reinforces the University’s commitment to sustainability and design excellence.

Partnership

Northrop’s 30-year relationship with the University of Newcastle, spanning over 40 projects, provided deep understanding of campus delivery expectations.

Combined with a strong collaboration with Lyons, this partnership enabled a seamless approach. Working with Hansen Yuncken, the team resolved complex timber detailing early and delivered a highly coordinated, buildable outcome.

Project

Located adjacent to Gosford Station, the Central Coast Campus is a three-storey, timber-led education facility conceived as a civic gateway, integrating teaching, innovation, and community spaces.

Key challenges included delivering a complex mass timber structure on a constrained urban site, achieving a 6 Star Green Star target, and resolving a free-form curved timber façade within programme and budget.

Delivery

Northrop delivered structural and civil engineering from concept to completion, including full design, construction support, and final certification. The structural solution combines CLT floor diaphragms and glulam framing with concrete cores for lateral stability.

Finite element modelling assessed diaphragm and vibration performance, while a DFMA approach with pre-installed connections accelerated erection. Northrop also led the compliance pathway for European-sourced timber, developing a Performance Solution to meet Australian standards.

Impact

The Central Coast Campus sets a new benchmark for mass timber education in Australia, delivering a low-carbon learning environment aligned with the University’s 6 Star Green Star aspirations.

The project demonstrates the successful integration of European timber systems within Australian frameworks, and the exposed timber interiors create a warm, human-centred space reflecting the University’s forward-thinking approach to campus design.

The Central Coast Campus challenged us to combine mass timber innovation with a constrained urban site and ambitious sustainability targets. It pushed us to find genuinely creative engineering solutions – and the result speaks for itself.
Rob Winbank
Principal | Melbourne Structural Section Manager