The Royal Children’s Hospital’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), designed by Bates Smart and Billard Leece Partnership, reflects the hospital’s dedication into the research of childhood diseases.
The Royal Children’s Hospital teamed together with The University of Melbourne and The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) to establish ‘Melbourne Children’s,’ a deliberate partnership that is part of the “Melbourne Biomedical Precinct.”
MCRI is Australia’s largest child health research facility, investigating vital research into a myriad of conditions. It is one of Australia’s few research institutions that employs cutting-edge genetic sequencing technology to provide solutions for families of children with previously unidentified illnesses.
Built on the top 2 floors of the Royal Children’s Hospital are new PC2 labs and associated dry lab research workspaces, executive offices, tea room and meeting rooms. This also enables researchers at the RCH to have direct vertical links to the specialist patient beds, critical services and consultant suites for close bed side to lab connections.
On Level 2 of the new building is the Australian Paediatric Pharmacology Research Unit (APPRU), a joint venture between RCH and MCRI conducting high quality, timely clinical drug trials that comply with both local and international Good Clinical Practice guidelines
Adjoining the new building and linked by multiple levels by bridges is the 11 storey Research Building completed by BLP some 5 years earlier. This building includes a Cell Therapeutics Laboratory designed to strict TGA/FDA standards for the preparation of clinical cell therapeutics and 2 floors of a bioresource research centre for small and larger animals.
The final addition of the new floors represents the completion of the vision for both the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute biotechnology research initiatives.
Location – The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
Client – Lendlease
Size – 20,000 sqm
Completed – 2011
