Client: TasTAFE
Location: Devonport Campus, Tasmania
Scope: Full-size downdraft spray booth, large paint mixing room, prep equipment, removal of an existing small booth, and integration into a refurbished training centre
Funding context: Australian Government TAFE Technology Fund, developed with industry partners including TACC and paint suppliers
Overview
TasTAFE needed an industry-standard autobody and refinishing environment so learners and apprentices could train on equipment that matches real workshops. The refurbished facility now includes a new spray-painting booth, a large paint mixing room, and paint preparation equipment. It was publicly showcased at an Open Day with demonstrations and industry recognition of partners who donated products and technology.
The old booth was small, unreliable, leaking air, and producing uneven drying and poor adhesion — a poor match for teaching modern refinishing skills.
The Challenge
The brief was unusual for a training site:
- High visibility first. Teachers and students needed to see into both the spray booth and the mixing room so theory and practical work could happen together.
- A large mixing room, with enough space for students and instructors to work side by side.
- As much glass as practical, without compromising compliance, containment, or airflow.
- A constrained footprint. The new full-size downdraft had to occupy the same area that previously held a small, outdated booth.
- Turnkey delivery. TasTAFE needed a partner that could project-manage the build: remove the existing unit, coordinate other trades, integrate services, and refurbish the space with minimal disruption.
Truflow was selected for experience with custom educational and commercial installations, Australian manufacture, and the scale to run a multi-trade project rather than simply drop in a standard booth.
The Truflow Solution
Truflow engineered a full-size downdraft spray booth to fit the existing envelope, then wrapped a large, glazed paint mixing room around the teaching brief.
Typical design priorities for this type of install:
- Downdraft airflow suited to automotive refinishing and Australian Standards (AS/NZS 4114).
- Extensive glazing on booth and mix-room walls/doors so instructors can observe technique, colour matching, and safety practice from outside the work zone.
- A mixing room sized for group instruction, minor paint storage, and colour-mixing systems donated by industry (Sherwin-Williams, Spectrum, PPG).
- Integration with prep equipment so the whole suite behaves like a professional shop, not a classroom mock-up.
- Site works: strip-out of the old booth, coordination with electrical, mechanical, and building contractors, and commissioning into the refurbished Autobody Training Facility.
The result is a teaching space that is still a real spray environment: filtered air, contained overspray, and a layout students will recognise when they walk into an employer’s workshop.
Outcome
Learners and industry apprentices at Devonport now train in a fit-for-purpose, industry-standard facility rather than around a failing small booth. The Open Day highlighted spray demonstrations, industry displays, and Certificates of Appreciation to paint and materials partners. TasTAFE and TACC framed the upgrade as a skills-shortage response: modern kit gives employers more confidence to engage young people in body repair and refinishing.
For Truflow, the project is a typical “difficult space + teaching brief” job: custom cabin geometry, maximum practical glass, a generous mix room, and full project management from demolition through handover — the same approach used on other TAFE and commercial paint facilities.
TasTAFE needed a full-size, highly visible teaching booth and mix room in a tight existing footprint; Truflow designed the downdraft and glazed mix room around that constraint and project-managed the changeover so students now train in an industry-standard environment.
