Tonsley opens fresh window of opportunity for Adelaide blind company

Rapidly expanding South Australian company ScreenAway will establish a new national headquarters at Tonsley Innovation District to drive growth and capitalise on opportunities to innovate, collaborate and attract talent.

The leading provider of in-home retractable block-out blinds will break ground on a new $6 million facility this year after securing a 3700m² site on Edison Road.

The new ScreenAway facility will effectively double the company’s existing footprint, providing more space for the manufacturing of its revolutionary blinds and flyscreens, along with R&D, warehousing and offices.

ScreenAway Managing Director Dan O’Rourke said the move follows a 12-month search for a new premises after outgrowing its current set up at Regency Park.

ScreenAway’s Teagan Agius, Dan O’Rourke and Crystal McCartney in their current facility.

"We had originally planned to set up operations in Gepps Cross, but I was at a networking event, and someone suggested I consider Tonsley. I had a look and realised straight away that’s where we had to be. "

ScreenAway Managing Director Dan O’Rourke

“As soon as you walk in, you can tell that Tonsley is geared towards growth and ideas. When you are a high value manufacturing company committed to innovating and investment in R&D, it makes a lot of sense to be in a community where the sole purpose is to incubate ideas and harvest them into cutting edge technologies and products.

“You’ve got companies like REDARC and SAGE with their R&D, you’ve got Tesla there as well – the collaboration and networking opportunities are very exciting.”

ScreenAway has quadrupled its revenues over the past four years and its national workforce is nearing 100. The company has built on its traditional product line with a new focus on providing solutions for architecturally designed buildings where larger and more complex screens are often required.

The move to Tonsley is fundamental to ScreenAway’s continued growth, with a target to double revenue in two years.

"To achieve that growth, we’ll obviously need more people in the factory, in the head office and also outside the office, selling and installing. We’re hoping that one of the benefits of co-location with Flinders University and TAFE SA at Tonsley is that it gives us direct access to job-ready staff who can come in and be part of our team. "

ScreenAway Managing Director Dan O’Rourke

Renewal SA Executive Director, Property and Major Projects, Todd Perry said Tonsley was the perfect location to facilitate ScreenAway’s expansion, providing it space to grow whilst also creating new employment opportunities for South Australians with diverse skill sets.

"Tonsley was ultimately established to bring lost jobs back to South Australia, so helping facilitate the upscaling of a company like ScreenAway really delivers on Tonsley’s vision to return jobs to an area so synonymous with industry,"

Renewal SA Executive Director, Property and Major Projects, Todd Perry

“It also has the potential to add dozens of indirect jobs to the supply chain, spilling over into the surrounding suburbs, so it plays a bigger role in the overall economic impact in the southern suburbs,” Mr Perry said.

He said Tonsley continues to present a unique opportunity for companies looking to stay ahead of the curve. “Tonsley is world-renowned for attracting people who share a passion for driving change.”

“The precinct provides a vibrant and dynamic environment that promotes creativity, fosters collaboration and encourages the exchange of ideas, helping businesses to bring new and innovative products, services and solutions to market faster,” Mr Perry said.

The new ScreenAway facility is expected to be completed by June 2025. Mr O’Rourke said his team could not wait to call Tonsley home, energised by its offerings, including the Mantra Tonsley Adelaide hotel.

"We fly all our staff in from around the country for training and conferences, so the hotel is ideal."

ScreenAway Managing Director Dan O’Rourke

“The idea that I can soon say ‘come on team,’ and walk down to the breakout spaces in the MAB [Main Assembly Building] with the beautiful gardens to have a meeting…it’s pretty special.

“We’re also very appreciative of how Renewal SA spent the time to understand our business and work with us on the solution. Personally, I feel very privileged to be accepted and to be able to join the district.”

About ScreenAway

ScreenAway’s retractable prototype was first conceived in 2013, as a practical way to clean windows without the need to fully remove the supporting flyscreen. The functionality was soon added to the company’s suite of block-out blind products, creating the ability to turn a room from day to night in an instant – an industry gamechanger, particular for shift workers.

The made-to-measure product directly seals the blind’s fabric within a window frame on all sides, eliminating the need for exposed cords or external pulleys or rollers and preventing light from getting in around the edges. It can be retrofitted into most types of windows, old and new, is easy to clean and has been lauded for its user-friendly design and child safety rating.

ScreenAway’s products are available for installation in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Perth.

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