This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE country’s first hospital-based biomedical engineering research centre has been approved for development at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital.
The $206 million Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) has now received the go ahead from the Victorian government, following its building permit being issued by the Yarra City Council, enabling the facility to go ahead and search new solutions to chronic illnesses.
Sitting at the northern edge of the Melbourne CBD, opposite to the Carlton Gardens, the 11-storey Denton Corker Marshall-designed state-of-the-art facility will be built at the site of the former Aikenhead building.
“At St Vincent’s, we have a long, proud history of tackling the toughest and most complex health problems something that is at the core of the ACMD vision,” said Angela Nolan, CEO of St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.
The ACMD has been working for the last decade under a working model at a modified scale at the hospital’s Fitzroy campus and will now be enabled to work in a larger scope, extending working possibilities and research pace.
The building will comprise specialised research, development and engineering areas, 3D printing laboratories, a human kinetics lab, special insulated rooms for the development of sensitive hearing and vision technologies, engineering workshops, robotics and collaborative spaces for both students and researchers.
“The new ACMD building has been sensitively and thoughtfully designed to complement its location within a world-heritage precinct, and will be an asset to the community. ACMD will position Australia as a world leader of ground-breaking biomedical research and innovation,” said Andrew Crettenden, project director for the ACMD.
The facility will also include an education centre with a dedicated teaching facility to for future clinical, nursing, allied health and biomedical research innovators, featuring seminar and tutorial rooms, a clinical simulation laboratory and a large lecture theatre with the capacity for conferences and major events.
“We’re bringing together the world’s brightest minds to take on tough healthcare challenges, all the while creating jobs and supporting new scientific breakthroughs,” said Jaala Pulford, minister for innovation, medical research and the digital economy.
The ACMD will see collaboration take place between leading universities, research institutes, a tertiary hospital and major industry partners.
With the facility a joint effort between St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, the Bionics Institute, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Australian Catholic University and the University of Wollongong Australia.
“ACMD’s new and unique setting will break down barriers to bring a wide variety of skill sets together in a dedicated building that is right in the heart of St Vincent’s Hospital, to solve some of the world’s toughest healthcare challenges – something that has never been done before,” said Erol Harvey, CEO of the ACMD.
The demolition of the existing Aikenhead Wing at St Vincent’s Melbourne is set to commence imminently, with the ACMD building due for completion by 2024.
“We are excited to be entering this next important chapter for ACMD and are grateful for the incredible support our partners and the State and Federal Governments have provided that has enabled this project to become a reality,” concluded Crettenden.
