WMI
Westmead Millennium Institute won the Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture at the 2015 Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter Awards. Jon Jacka was the project architect for the project while working at BVN Architecture.
Westmead Millennium Institute is a significant medical research institution working to “enrich the health and wellbeing of people globally by liberating them from the major disease challenges of our time.” The new building brings together diverse research groups under one roof, facilitating collaboration.
Jury Citation (Australian Institute of Architects, 2015) -
The Westmead Millennium Institute brings together staff from six sites across the Westmead Hospital campus: facilitating a regrouping of divergent research groups within a singular place of calm engagement.
A strong sense of logic drives the ordering and thus expression of the building. It strikes an impressive presence along Hawkesbury Road, almost formidable at the suburban edge of the campus.
… It is a flexible and even unfinished building, which ensures its continued use and adaptation over many years as its shape and occupants may change. Generous service zones integrate the huge array of engineering required now and into the future, and many of the spaces now set up as offices can become labs as this use expands.
From within, this logic brings clarity to a complex, multi-functional brief. Access to light and views to the outside are provided equally from within and through laboratories, offices and communal spaces. This transparency also facilitates a layered understanding of the building’s use, promoting interaction and connectivity between researchers and engaging the visitor.
BVN’s well considered palette of materials and details underpins the enduring quality of this building, which offers a beguiling sense of wellbeing. A mix of natural materials, quality concrete and light-reflecting white surfaces create a focused working ambience. Generous proportioning elevates the mundane and a quiet strength emerges through the skilful execution of many parts within the whole.
This is a project where every aspect has been considered. The sensitivity and deftness of this consideration has transformed the building’s logic into an uplifting and inspiring environment for collaboration and research.
Awards
2015 Sir John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture (Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter)
2015 National Awards for Public Architecture Shortlist (Australian Institute of Architects National Chapter)
Links
Official website - The Westmead Institute
Australian Institute of Architects - State’s best designs revealed at 2015 NSW Architecture Awards (2 July 2015)
BVN Architecture - Westmead Millennium Institute
BVN Architecture
Architect, Lead Consultant, Interior, Fitout and Furniture Design, Signage (Team - Jon Jacka (Project Architect), Bill Dowser, Julian Ashton, Rose Jimenez, Frank Buss, Alison Bounds, Simon Hubert, Josephine Meldgaard, Namaste Burrell, Will Blake, Michael Persch, Xavier Tan, Christina Rangel, Catherine Skinner, Nesa Marojevic, Ian Goodbury, Andrew Metcalf, Peter Clarke, Mark Green, Jahan Faeghi, Joe Firmendesi, Michelle Farman, Nikita Notowidigdo, Pouwel Wind. Client - Westmead Millennium Institute, Professor Tony Cunningham (Executive Director), Mark Dado (Chief Operating Officer). Contractor - AbiGroup)
Photography - John Gollings