Approval granted for university medical research centres
27 January, 2011
Approval granted for university medical research centres
Planning Minister Tony Kelly announced the approval today of a major medical research and teaching facilities at the University of NSW.
Mr Kelly said the refurbishment of the Wallace Wurth Building at the University of NSW would provide state-of-the-art facilities to further medical research.
“This projects will provide a greater investment in knowledge, innovation, research and development,” Mr Kelly said.
“It will create modern facilities that will help attract leading academics and researchers, and provide world-class teaching and training in medical fields.”
The approval for the $112 million Wallace Wurth Building refurbishment at the University of NSW includes:
- Demolition of a single-storey building on the Kensington campus at the corner of High and Botany streets;
- Construction of an additional level above the west wing;
- Expansion of the building footprint to the north and south to create a new seven-storey building with 20,739 square metres of floor space;
- A central atrium connecting the western and eastern wings.
“This project also has wide-ranging public benefits, including the creation of 400 construction and 740 operational jobs,” Mr Kelly said.
“The new building will accommodate 678 staff and just over 1300 students, which is around 900 more people than the capacity of the existing Wallace Wurth building.
Minister for Science and Medical Research Jodi McKay said this project will make an important contribution towards the ongoing growth of biomedicine research.
“The new facility will include wet and dry research areas including for biological research, teaching areas such as lecture theatres and seminar rooms and space for support facilities like animal facilities,” Ms McKay said
“It will also house groups such as the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research which will have a presence in the building, as well as medical faculty teams working in pathology, pharmacology, physiology, and medical sciences” Ms McKay said.
Mr Kelly said the projects would support the growth of the Randwick Education and Health Precinct which was identified in the Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036, which was released in December.
“This project supports the expansion of this university and will facilitate development around research hubs, building Sydney’s knowledge infrastructure and clustering it with other research facilities and business,” Mr Kelly said.
Mr Kelly said the project had been approved by the Department of Planning, while Randwick City Council had undertaken the assessment of the University of NSW proposal.
Member for Coogee, and University Council member, Paul Pearce, welcomed the Government’s continuing support of UNSW as a world class medical research facility.
"Ultimately the whole country benefits from the work and study to be undertaken in the facility," Mr Pearce said
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