Thinking
The main focus of SAHMRI is to translate medical research results into medical health outcomes that will reach the community.Widespread personalised medicine, in which tailoring of medications and treatment regimes is at the level of individual physiology, is now within our reach.
Moving from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside is the goal of translational medicine. Such a goal requires an environment where scientists can be at their most creative without worrying about the lighting, temperature, systems and connectivity.
Good science relies on repeatability. Removing variables such as the external influence of the environment by creating reliable and stable conditions is essential in order to achieve these results. To deliver an intelligent system for a medical research institute, SAHMRI’s vision was to provide a fully integrated solution across all building services, facilities and functional areas. Delivering world-class science needed a world-class environment.
Building services engineers were able to create this kind of environment for SAHMRI by dealing with electrical, communications, fire services, vertical transportation, and integrated building systems.
“The vision for integration stretched the boundaries of the standard design, procurement and construction process,” said Aurecon building services project director Justin Goodman. “Thinking outside the square, we were able to enhance this integration, by combining packages of work from traditional electrical, mechanical and communications services, to encapsulate the intellect of one of Australia’s most integrated buildings in its operation and control.”
Following a unique approach, the SAHMRI houses various research functions, modern equipment and highly specialised, fully flexible laboratory space all under one roof, making it one of the most technically complex facilities in Australia.
The building encompasses a broad range of sophisticated medical facilities, including a cyclotron, a preclinical imaging and research laboratory, PC2/QC2 laboratory and IT spaces.
The engineering team provided valuable input on lighting control solutions, appropriate fire services for the preclinical imaging and research laboratory and services reticulation strategies to maintain stringent PC2/QC2 requirements in the laboratories.
Combining all building control systems into one design package provided the managing contractor with a single platform from which to work and permitted the delivery of a dynamic, responsive, world class facility, with all systems working together to provide the adaptability and flexibility required throughout the facility’s life cycle.
Systems integration optimises the facility by expertly incorporating and monitoring all the required physical components and their exact usage, thereby providing data for accurate and timely maintenance planning. It reports quicker on failure, alerting the right people and triggering a chain of events to effectively manage the failure.
All of this means that scientists at SAHMRI can conduct world-class research safe in the knowledge that the building’s environmental performance is at the highest levels.
This intelligent infrastructure allows them to stay a step ahead of demand for connectivity in the building and enable efficient changes and improved network security.
The new network infrastructure includes real time information on connection status and displays on the patching frames. This helps minimise costly network downtime, providing technicians with guidance and allowing them to work faster with fewer errors.
SAHMRI is the first facility on the planet to fully implement the ImVision System Manager Version 7.0 SP3 system, which enables to achieve world-class connectivity.
Michelle Gheorghiu, Director, Infrastructure & Capital Planning, SAHMRI said: “Aurecon displayed seamless integration with all the professional engineering consultants on the project, working collaboratively and sharing its expertise for the best outcome for the client and outstanding deliverables.
“I strongly support and recommend Aurecon’s building services team to anyone embarking on complex and major projects.”
This article first appeared in www.sourceable.net.
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