News

Working in association with Sydney-based architectural firm BVN, Swanbury Penglase is currently hard at work completing detailed documentation for the University of South Australia’s new 14 storey Health Innovation Building (HIB) on North Terrace.

Located alongside the Morphett Street Bridge and adjacent the New Royal Adelaide Hospital, the SAHMRI building and Adelaide University’s (under-construction) Medical and Nursing School, HIB is a high-profile landmark and an integral part of the new South Australian Health and Biomedical Precinct. Our landscape architecture team is also currently working in collaboration with the Adelaide University design team to develop a new suspended landscaped ‘urban park’ between both buildings.

The building will house the Centre for Cancer Biology (CCB) which will link the UniSA community with up to 250 of Australia’s top cancer and health researchers.  In addition, the building will feature innovative, multidisciplinary research laboratories, practice based teaching spaces and clinical spaces designed to grow the next generation of nursing and allied health graduates.  At the lower levels it will feature Adelaide’s first Science Creativity Education Studio (SciCeD) intended to inspire a new generation of science aware community.

Site works are scheduled to commence in June 2015, with the project planned to open to the public in early 2018.

In late May, Wayne Grivell, Kon Michael and Dion Byas attended the 15^th National Council of Educational Facility Planners (CEFPI) Conference in Canberra. Always an excellent event, this year’s conference opened strongly with a thought provoking keynote address by learning theorist Ewen Macintosh and ended with a moving and reflective speech by the Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson.

Our team had the opportunity to visit a number of venues, ranging from P-10 ‘superschools’ through to early learning centres, primary schools, high schools and galleries, demonstrating the various modes of learning across institutions. Other highlights included a welcome function at the National Portrait Gallery (pictured below) and the conference dinner at the National Arboretum.

The event was capped off with the presentation of the Annual CEFPI Awards, from which our recently constructed Margaret Ames Centre at Immanuel College received a well deserved Commendation in Category 3: Renovation/Modernisation over $2 Million .

We look forward to next year’s conference in Melbourne.