Multiplex has completed works on the $81 million Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building for Monash University, delivering a new world-class education space to the Clayton campus in Victoria.
Designed by high-profile architects, Denton Corker Marshall, the new building extends four levels and is set to provide a total of 11,400 square metres of state-of-the-art learning space for Biomedical Science students.
Regional Managing Director Multiplex Victoria, Graham Cottam, said Multiplex completed the innovative new building on schedule.
“This building will provide students with contemporary learning spaces and we are proud to play a pivotal role in delivering the University’s vision for higher education through revolutionary educational settings,” Mr Cottam said.
Presented as a series of interlocking cuboid blocks known as ‘Flexi Labs’, the Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building will act as a hub for students, providing them with a series of flexible formal and informal learning spaces.
Configured in the shape of an ‘L’, these laboratories wrap around a central glazed satellite preparation area, providing smaller-scale and more intimate laboratory environments for 60 to 120 students. Otherwise, the four laboratories can be combined to provide a larger space for up to 240 students.
Some laboratories were built to Physical Containment Level 2 (PC2), a high level of facility certification, with the building’s façade also pressure tested to ensure that the building holds a high level of airtightness.
Further to this, the Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building features a striking hanging steel staircase which is suspended from a skylight truss and connects the various levels of the facility. The biomedical pattern that is integrated into the East and Western façade of the building is also reflected in the pattern design of the atrium ceiling.
Multiplex said there were several challenges faced during the project’s construction including the installation of the intricate feature façade which features a complex biological frit pattern using a combination of curtain wall glass and solid aluminium panels.
Work on the project commenced in August 2017, with a total of 2,500 people working on site throughout the project’s construction period.