How one team overcame design and construction challenges to
create a cutting edge research facility
Funding reforms, increased competition and the rapidly changing rate of technology is forcing
universities to rethink their strategic vision.
As a result, many universities are focusing on how they can attract more sponsorship and revenue
through designing, constructing and operating state-of-the-art research facilities to ensure they
remain competitive in a changing market.
But what actually makes a research facility ‘world-class’? And more importantly, what strategies can
universities use to avoid mistakes in planning and development stages to ensure they create a
collaborative, flexible and leading facility for the future?
Matthew Todd, Principal at Hassell (formally a Principal at FJMT) and Dr Ian Garthwaite, Laboratory
Services Manager, Research Sydney University’s Charles Perkins Centre both know how important
planning, collaboration and future proofing is when creating a research facility.
Following the initial design stages of creating the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, a
change to the procurement method from a traditional to a design and construct methodology,
meant the facility had to be designed and documented as it was being built via a fast-track process.
This not only bought about a unique set of challenges for architecture practice FJMT (in association
with Building Studio) and the contractor Brookfield Multiplex, but it also meant the client and
project team had to work very closely together to ensure the vision of creating a leading research
facility was delivered.
Ahead of Research Facilities Design and Development 2015, Matthew Todd and Dr Ian Garthwaite
explore the key elements of the project team’s strategic vision and how they overcame major design
challenges in order to develop a collaborative and cutting edge research facility.
Project objectives: meeting the client brief
Ian: The Charles Perkins Centre is just on a year old now and it’s something the university created to
change the way that it works. Instead of setting up a research facility with multiple silos, the
university decided to set up one common laboratory to answer real world problems by incorporating
lots of different faculties into the building.
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
Charles Perkins Centre Exterior
The building is home to seven open-plan 80-person laboratories which host eight to 10 research
groups, sharing equipment and support rooms.
The main objective was to facilitate collaboration. That’s the one key outcome we want to see from
this building. It’s very much talking to people and producing strategic ways that they can interact.
Matthew: The main objective of the research component of the project was to facilitate crossdisciplinary interaction between various groups within the university. That was the over-arching
goal of the brief. We had to meet and deliver that vision to the University of Sydney.
This is a unique project in the sense that it originated from a traditional design and documentation
process undertaken by Hassell. However, following the University’s appointment of the contractor
Brookfield Multiplex (BMPX), an alternate fast-track D&C procurement methodology was pursued to
ensure the project was delivered on time and budget. FJMT (in association with Building Studio) was
the architect on BMPX’s team.
The core of the BMPX alternate proposal was an entire building redesign. There was already a lot of
great work done by Hassell on the earlier version of the building, and we came along and reexamined the brief. We had a six month window before BMPX started construction. We had to go
back to the basics of the brief and run a huge number of meetings and workshops to ensure we were
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
all on the same page and that the vision of our client would be met with a new building design.
These meetings needed to be time efficient yet effective because as the facility was being designed,
it was being built.
The 50,000 square metre project was designed, documented and constructed in two years – a
testament to the skills and commitment of the entire project team.
The importance of stakeholder engagement
Matthew: It goes without saying that collaboration and engagement with stakeholders is critical to
the success of any large scale project. Regular meetings, workshops and presentations all played an
important role in engaging everyone involved.
But from a design perspective, our other strategy was full-scale and extensive prototyping. This is
something that doesn’t always happen as much as it should, but it’s a really important process which
enables the user to physically see and interact with the full-scale vision.
We created a variety of prototypes in an offsite location that included a portion of the research lab
module, workplace (an office, workstations, hot desks) and informal meeting area. Users were
invited to visit and provide feedback on the prototypes.
Charles Perkins Centre Atrium
It was a great process which resulted in numerous refinements as we fine-tuned the design, details,
materials and finishes based on direct feedback of the prototypes.. This iterative process was
especially critical due to the PC2 certification sought for the research labs as the little details are
really important!
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
Key elements of design
Matthew: In relation to the research components of the building, the key design elements were
driven by a desire for clarity and legibility of the building for occupants. Despite the scale, this was
achieved by a deliberately straight-forward layout of the research labs, workplaces and informal
meeting and interaction spaces all surrounding a distinctive atrium.
As the symbolic heart of the building, the top-lit atrium gathers all the primary circulation elements
(stairs, lifts) and interaction spaces to capture the energy of the occupants and facilitate informal
meetings between different groups. The design of the varying curved atrium edge and locations of
vertical circulation enables clear views between, and across, the floors right into the research
laboratories.
Research and teaching spaces enhanced by technology
On another level, our flexible and modular approach to the research laboratory design was
fundamental to the design. Loose, yet modular, lab benches and mobile under bench cabinets are
inherently reconfigurable by occupants – essential if the spaces are to react to the specific research
requirements of each group. Likewise, services spines suspended from the ceiling are able to
accommodate increased power, data and gas supply densities as needs arise.
Ian: The most important elements of design from the university’s perspective was to make sure the
labs are flexible and are able to be reconfigured according to what’s available and necessary. We had
to ensure we had infrastructure to allow us to support new technologies.
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
For example, making sure we’ve got the power requirements for the labs, making sure that we were
able to be flexible with the air conditioning and to add additional ducting work to get fumes out of
the spaces.
One of the things we incorporated in the design, was the use of water cooled -80 freezers, which in
itself brings along its own challenges.
There were also a number of lighting requirements for the building. Also, the air that comes into the
building is actually chilled through a labyrinth before it’s brought into the air conditioning duct and
used to work for the building. So tempering the air using ground tunnels is quite a good use of the
design.
Design challenges
Matthew: There were a series of challenges affecting the design that we faced during the project,
which were often interrelated. The construction timetable was a challenge – due to the fast-track
process it was difficult to know when and how packages were being procured as changes were
frequent.
Because of the proximity of the facility to St Johns College and the age of the campus itself, heritage
was another key challenge. We had to ensure that the design of the Charles Perkins Centre
integrated well with the surrounding buildings and campus.
Due to our programme milestones, we needed planning approval within a short timeframe to enable
construction to continue. We managed to do so through proactive engagement and staging of the
planning submissions with the City of Sydney and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
Another challenge was the integration of technology. Technology, in particular audio visual, is
constantly changing from the time you commence a project to when it is installed on site. So it was
important for us to be able to get the latest and greatest technology into the facility, particularly for
the 240 person teaching lab, known as the X-lab, which was a key to the success of the spaces.
Lessons Learned
Matthew: There are always a lot of lessons from projects of this nature and scale but the main
takeaway for me would be to ensure genuine collaboration between all parties involved. I’ve worked
on a number of projects over the last 20 odd years and it has reinforced the fact that if everyone is
together on the same page, you will deliver better outcomes.
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
Often there are problems when expectations within the team are quite different. That is when
friction occurs. So it’s important to ensure you’re openly collaborating with each other at all stages
of the project.
Another lesson we learnt is that starting with a thorough client brief is key to success. The clarity of
the brief (prepared by Liz Partridge) helped us to ensure that expectations were aligned and that we
delivered what the client was seeking.
Ian: There’s always something to learn in projects like this one. I was involved in a process for
designing some labs elsewhere and we’ve taken some learning’s from this lab into the design for
that space. Simple things like being ahead of the standards and looking at hands-free hand wash
facilities, dispensers for the gels that you use there. Those are changes that have come into the
legislation since the building was originally designed. Trying to second guess those and incorporate
some of those activities can be a challenge.
The thing I’d look at changing is looking at the back-up power or the emergency power resources
that you have in the building and looking at how you support those. It’s important to have very good
input from your end users on storage space and what’s necessary. There the two things I would
probably look for in designing labs for the future.
But the interaction spaces are probably the area where this building is leading the way in terms of
research design. When we bring people round from other institutions, it’s certainly an area which
impresses people – other institutions don’t have these types of collaborative spaces. The ability to
interact, the ability to facilitate that interaction, is one of the key things that this building has.
Forecasting for the future
Matthew: Over time things always change in university buildings, but particularly in research labs.
Obviously there are different research groups that come and go, and they need to be able to expand
and contract depending on their size and the nature of the space.
The university did all the background work to understand the users’ needs and how they might
change in the future. They then briefed us quite extensively and on the probable requirements for
future allowances to services and spaces.
This was a really important process in terms of forecasting what space allocations we would need to
make and helped us to future proof, particularly for new or additional services. It was a similar case
with the technology. To anticipate and accommodate future change we designed flexible mobile
benching and made allowances for the occupants to be able to insert new fume cupboards in the
building for example.
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Watch the video interview with Ian here
But probably the most important tool for future proofing was taking the brief from the client and
then translating that into a BIM model. The integration and power of BIM is really useful not only in
terms of design, coordination and construction of research facilities but for facility management in
the future.
Dr Ian Garthwaite and Matthew Todd will be further exploring the lessons learned from the highly
collaborative environment designed and fostered at the Charles Perkins Centre at Research Facilities
Design and Development 2015.
To find out more visit www.researchfacilities.com.au, or call +61 2 9229 1000 or email
[email protected].
You can also get a glimpse of what the Charles Perkins Centre looks like in action in our recent video
interview with Dr Ian Garthwaite here
Download the brochure
Watch the video interview with Ian here