Swinburne University of Technology has launched a $100 million Advanced Manufacturing and Design Centre by Wilkinson Eyre Architects in partnership with Jacobs Australia.
The 11-storey building in Hawthorn, Melbourne, has retained and incorporated an original nineteenth century two-storey facade and includes laboratories, lecture theatres, office areas, breakout spaces as well as classroooms and workshops.
The vertical fins that feature on the building’s facade are inspired by engine turbine blades, and they’re designed to provide solar shading while also giving the structure a three-dimensional shape.
Features of the new building include the Factory of the Future, an immersive visual reality space for exploring manufacturing design, and the Training Centre in Biodevices, a facility for exploring innovative medical technologies. The Factory of the Future space on the ground floor was designed by H20 Architects, and it hosts a cluster of specialist studios that will allow designers to create prototypes and research manufacturing methods.
Swinburne University of Technology vice-chancellor professor Linda Kristjanson described the future of the building as “an exhilarating road to discovery.”
“For Australia’s industries to prosper, we need to bring together imaginative ideas with technological know-how,” she said.
The Advanced Manufacturing and Design Centre has already been in use leading up to the official opening, and during that time micro photonics researcher Min Gu used his research space in the building to combine graphene and laser physics to create a pop-up hologram that can be seen without 3D glasses. The technological achievement was reported around the world.
The building was officially opened by senator Scott Ryan, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Education and Training. Funds for the building were partially provided by the federal government through the Education Investment Fund.
The design of the building by the high profile UK practice Wilkinson Eyre Architects has attained a 5-star Green Star rating. Wilkinson Eyre Architects also designed the proposed Crown Hotel tower in Barangaroo South in Sydney.
