Micro Nano Research Facility at Melbourne’s RMIT City Campus Completed

By Balazs Szekely, Associate Editor

Melbourne, Australia—Construction of the Micro Nano Research Facility at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University City Campus is now completed, according to the contractor. It took Brookfield Multiplex seven months to raise the specialist research facility and delivered the high-tech building more than a month ahead of its scheduled completion.

Designed by architects SKM Jacobs, the facility located over two levels of an existing building in Bowen Street spans an area of around 13,000 square feet with additional rooftop plant areas. It will support more than 110 researchers and research students and a number of external research stakeholders, bringing together diverse high quality multi-disciplinary micro-technology and nano-technology research.

The Micro Nano Research Facility comprises Class 100 and Class 1,000 clean rooms, a Physical Containment Level 2 Laboratory, Sensor Technology Laboratory, support laboratories and administration areas including offices, training rooms and breakout spaces as well. Its features include an elevator system custom made for the unmanned transport of specialist gases. A gas detection system interfacing with a mechanical exhaust system is also included in order to ensure safe operation. Further features include safety cabinets for housing, and an abatement system for filtering specialist gases. The plug and play setup of the equipment ensures flexibility and enables quick response to changes in research technologies.

The extensive range of specialist laboratory equipment was sourced from various countries around the world including France. Laboratory finishes, fixtures and furniture have been custom-designed, manufactured and installed to meet strict laboratory compliance codes.

The Micro Nano Research Facility is not the first time Brookfield Multiplex and RMIT University have worked together, as the company also delivered the $200 million Swanston Academic Building in 2012. Brookfield’s portfolio of finished developments in Australia includes further higher education and high-profile research projects on behalf of the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales.