RP Infrastructure

The UNSW had the opportunity to redevelop the existing medical research facilities on its Kensington Campus and to incorporate the Institute of Virology (Kirby Institute) into the expanded facilities. Together with the Lowy Cancer Research Centre and the Biological Sciences Building, the Wallace Wurth redevelopment now forms a biomedical research precinct on UNSW’s upper campus.

Project Overview

The new development is a full refurbishment of the existing building with a connecting new facility providing 20,800m² facility including a purpose-built 6,000m² facility that houses the Kirby Institute’s current research programs, most of the laboratories, administrative offices and seminar space. The development accommodates 1250+ students and 750 research personnel with large animal holding facilities, a physical containment (PC3) laboratory, a collection of PC2 and PC1 and dedicated wet-teaching laboratories. Stage 1 was completed in May 2013, Stages 2 and 3 opened in March 2014.

Our Role

RP Infrastructure provided advice and guidance to the University on an appropriate probity framework and contractual arrangements, value engineering and management, and tender proposal evaluation. We also convened and chaired the contract negotiation and finalisation meetings between the contractor and the University. Our commission was extended to include acting as Principal’s Representative for the duration of the contract administration phase.

Key Challenge

Delivering the project while maintaining full research and teaching operations created significant challenges in managing the construction program. Staged construction activities, weekly monitoring and detailed forecasting of works were required, along with vibration monitoring to ensure research outcomes were not compromised. The project was completed on time and under budget.