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JCU buildings clean up at awards

JCU’s new, innovative buildings – The Science Place and AITHM, Townsville – have been recognised as the best of their type by the Master Builders North Queensland.

The $80 million Science Place, a state-of-the-art educational science building constructed by Lendlease and opened earlier in 2017, was judged Project of the Year.

The five level, 12,000 square metre building also won the ‘Educational Facilities over $10m’ category. Judge John Galloway called it “…the pinnacle of cutting-edge campus design.”

Professor Marcus Lane, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at JCU, said the award was an important recognition for the builders and architects.

“But also for those members of the JCU community who conceived the project, successfully sought resources for its construction, and oversaw the detailed design. And now the best part – they get to use this magnificent facility to create new scientific knowledge and make it available to north Queenslanders,” he said.

JCU’s Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) building on the Townsville campus also won the ‘Health Facility over $20m’ category.

The $31 million world-class infectious diseases research facility was built by Watpac Construction and officially opened in 2016.

AITHM Director, Professor Louis Schofield said the building provides laboratories and office spaces for research programs in tropical health and medicine for Australia and the region, specifically building important biosecurity capacity for northern Australia.

“The PC3 laboratory enables AITHM to make a significant contribution to Queensland’s competitive advantage. It is the only one of its kind between Brisbane and Singapore, allowing for world-leading research to be undertaken locally.

“With the inclusion of the PC2 laboratories and the Translational Research facility, this building enables AITHM to complete the full research spectrum from bench to bedside including research training, and the transfer and commercialisation of research findings into better health care delivery,” said Professor Schofield.

To top it all off, Verandah Walk, the all-weather covered pathway built by RCQ Construction that links buildings at JCU’s Townsville campus won the ‘Tourism and Leisure Facilities up to $10M’ category.

Tricia Brand, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Division of Services and Resources at JCU, said the new buildings demonstrate the university’s commitment to provide state of the art infrastructure for students, staff and north Queensland communities.

“These facilities create learning and social spaces which enhance the student experience and enable our staff to undertake cutting edge research,” she said.

This story was first published in The Fence magazine.

Image: JCU’s Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) building on the Townsville campus.

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