John Curtin School of Medical Research
“Our competition winning masterplan was organic and unifying – bringing…various disciplines closer together in a highly interconnected, state of the art facility. The DNA strand, as fundamental basis of their molecular research, was a key design idea in the formation of the building iconography.”
Neil Appleton, Director of Lyons
Our work on the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University (ANU) was an opportunity to collaborate and sustain dialogue with leading researchers to transform a world-class medical institute in Canberra. As the scheme evolved, laboratory planning paired open labs with adjacent write-up and meeting zones so collaboration happens along the everyday path from bench to desk. We won the design competition for the project and brought the grand vision to life across three extensive project stages. Our strategy is rooted in the significance of pulling research facilities from the shadows and giving them a clear, bold identity that celebrates their inner (often microscopic) workings. At the campus edge this reads in the faceted precast skin and in the glazed robotics-lab frontage that invites passers-by to look in, giving the institute a civic public realm presence. From façade to internal spaces, this project translates a compelling story about the importance of scientific endeavour and the role of collaboration and interconnection in medical research. Designed in close collaboration with the School’s stakeholders and user groups, this project challenges conventional ideas of a closed research facility, opening up and celebrating the work of this leading research School. Interconnecting stairs and balcony lounges punctuate the plan, so teams naturally cross paths between instruments and write-up spaces within visible research collaboration zones.
Research Buildings
Neil Appleton
Corbett Lyon
Australian National University
John Curtin School of Medical Research
131 Garran Rd, Acton ACT 2601
Located on the traditional lands of the Ngunawal people
20,000 square metres
Complete, 2006
“Lyons was one of seven architectural firms invited to compete for the design of a redeveloped John Curtin School of Medical Research. Their concept was a unanimous winner. The building has provided everything we hoped for: an iconic exterior, highly functional laboratories and an outstanding research environment.”
Prof Stephen Redman, Deputy Director John Curtin School of Medical Research (2007)
“We ran a series of workshops with the client which included some of Australia’s leading scientists and researchers to capture their vision for the new building. Together we developed a design that was all about collaboration and exchange, functionality and has a ‘wow’ factor that reflects the School’s international research work.”
Corbett Lyon, Director of Lyons
A strategy to enhance collaborative research and encourage interaction underpins our design for the John Curtin School of Medical Research. Clear wayfinding and continuous sightlines across the atrium help visitors and collaborators orient quickly while keeping labs close to social spaces. Large floor plates maximise the number of people working in close proximity while lifts, interconnecting stairs and highly accessible balconies increase circulation and social interaction. To engage visitors and the public with the inner workings of the School, full height glass walls in the foyer provide views into high through-put robotics labs. The ‘super-lab’ laboratory modules have been planned to optimise flexibility for small groups or large research teams. Service spines and modular benches let rooms toggle between small-group experiments and institute-wide protocols without rework. All laboratories feature an abundance of natural daylight and include flexible services and moveable benching.
The unique iconic façade is imbued with symbolism to communicate the inner workings of the building to the wider public. Digitally formed precast concrete panels represent the work of the School in medical research, at four different scales; from the scale of the human body/humankind, to the cellular level, then to the DNA molecule and finally to the protein bases which make up the DNA molecule, represented by symbols A, G, C and T. At the public entries these reliefs read close-up, linking the institute’s fields—from body to bases—to the places people gather.
Our design for the John Curtin School of Medical Research transforms the campus and acts as the front door for the postgraduate scientific research precinct. The stepping plaza aligns with primary campus paths, pulling foot traffic through the forecourt and into the foyer as a legible campus gateway. JCSMR has been designed as a low rise, interconnective building to promote interaction between staff, researchers and visitors and facilitate collaborative research. The wide steps and generous plaza create an appropriately scaled public entry into the research facility and also serve to connect the building to the ANU campus. The main entry level houses the public spaces in the building – from the auditorium, to the café, interactive displays and views into the working laboratories. Set on axis with the auditorium and displays, the café doubles as an informal symposium space where networks form between sessions. The strategic thinking behind social spaces such as the café is fundamental to rethinking research institutes. Such spaces not only transform occupant’s work days, but they place medical research facilities in the public domain.
Neil Appleton, Directors, Practice Executive
View Neil's ProfileCorbett Lyon, Directors, Co-Founders, Practice Executive
View Corbett's Profile
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