Photo of the north and western sides of the Health and Medical Research Building with tall gum trees and a clear blue sky.

HMRB UPDATE

MARCH 2024
Welcome to the latest news about Flinders University’s
Health and Medical Research Building (HMRB).

The Health and Medical Research Building (HMRB) will be an outstanding biomedical research facility for southern Adelaide and the centrepiece of the Flinders Village development. HMRB is Flinders University's investment in future
healthcare that will change lives and change the world.

Connecting researchers and equipment

Professor Claire Roberts, Matthew Flinders Professor and Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory (PHaB Lab) Lead, is a placental biologist and pregnancy researcher. She and her team are moving to level 4 of the HMRB in late May. They will continue studying the dynamic crosstalk between the mother, placenta and fetus in healthy and complicated pregnancies.

Professor Roberts is excited about her imminent move to the HMRB with her Flinders University and Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute colleagues. “We have watched every step of the building’s development,” Professor Roberts said. “The new instrumentation in the research platforms floor will be like a one-stop-shop for cutting edge research tools.”

An almost-complete interior wooden staircase and metal handrails with sunshine pouring in from north-facing louvre windows in the background.

Bridge between University Drive and the eastern entrance to the HMRB taken from below with workers in high-vis vests and hard hats both on the bridge and below it.

Professor Roberts signing the gold top beam of the HMRB at the building’s ‘topping out’ ceremony last year (left) and in her lab (right).

“We'll use the space to study cellular and molecular effects of various exposures in pregnancy and work on biomarkers in health and disease in women,” said Professor Roberts. “We know that when the placenta doesn’t develop properly, a number of common pregnancy complications occur and that these also increase the risk of chronic diseases later in life. So, health in pregnancy foreshadows future health for both mother and child.”

Professor Roberts looks forward to progressing her research with improved opportunities to connect with research participants in the HMRB's collaborative spaces. “Being in the HMRB is going to be great for research collaboration across groups too,” she said.

Connecting spaces

The HMRB has a focus on collaboration between researchers and healthcare industry partners, however the ethos of connectivity extends beyond its people. It is embedded into the very fabric of the building, from its location to its design and facilities:

Internal lifts connect all the floors, and stairs are located at both the northern and southern ends of the building.
Steps on the western side connect to Flinders Railway Station, Flinders Medical Centre and University car park 12 (see image, below).
Steps and foot bridge connect to University Drive and is a new gateway to Flinders' Bedford Park campus.
The First Nations cultural narrative connects to Country and embeds meaning into the HMRB’s site positioning, exterior and interior design with façade and interior artwork, colour schemes across the floors and the landscaping.
Digital connectivity as the first medical research facility in the world to achieve platinum level endorsement under the WiredScore Certification (as reported in the December HMRB Update).

HMRB building from the north-western side with small cranes, workers and equipment. The image shows the front and rear steps and garden beds under construction.

Steps to the HMRB from Flinders Railway Station, Flinders Medical Centre and University car park 12, and steps connecting to University Drive. Image courtesy Mark Zed.

HMRB internal stairs (left) and HMRB foot bridge connecting to University Drive (right).

Connecting to wellness

Health and wellbeing are central to the HMRB’s mission with wellness features throughout the building.

Dr Matthew Wallen, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology and his students in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences worked with wayfinding/signage consultants, Parallax, to develop a unique set of health and wellbeing messages.

Wellbeing messages have been inscribed on the staircase handrails at both ends of the building. The inscriptions provide informative facts about wellness, mental wellbeing, physical exertion and some motivational messaging.

Close up image taken from above of a staircase handrail with the inscription "Climbing 60 stairs per day can increase cardiovascular fitness by up to 5%' looking down from above.

Inscriptions include:

Going up stairs uses twice the energy as coming down.
Climbing 60 stairs per day can increase cardiovascular fitness by up to five percent.
Take an extra flight of stairs every day and you can reduce your brain age by more than six months per year.

Add the accessibility lifts, the building’s proximity to public transport, end-of-trip facilities, bike storage and extensive interior and exterior landscaping that creates a walking environment that is peaceful, streamlined and engaging. These elements will all play a role in HMRB striving for WELL Gold certification for wellbeing.

Construction update

Since the last update in mid-December, the team have moved into the final phase of construction and made significant progress to construction milestones.

Close up of the front steps under construction with a crane and workers in high-vis and hard hats.

Western steps and name over the door. These steps connect the building to the Flinders Railway Station, Flinders Medical Centre and University car park 12.

The majority of works onsite are now focussed on internal spaces.
Floors are being fitted out with specialist equipment, joinery and office equipment.
Building services have been connected and partially commissioned.
In preparation for medical research activity, independent certification is underway for Physical Containment (PC) level 2 labs, based on Australian Standard for Safety in laboratories.
Red aviation lights have been installed on the roof to keep the HMRB clear of the flight path for the nearby Flinders Medical Centre emergency helipad.
Footpath surfacing, kerbing, safety barriers and retaining walls have been installed around the building’s perimeter.
Steps to/from Flinders Railway Station and the building's foot bridge to/from University Drive have also been completed.

We extend a huge thank you to our precinct partners and neighbours who continue to work with us to manage roadworks on Service Road, Sports Road and University Drive.

Office desks and chairs covered in plastic.

Sunny aerial photo of the building from the west showning the front steps, garden beds, footpath and kerbs and two cranes

Fit-out of office equipment with views to the east (left) and landscaping, footpath and kerbing works (right) - photo courtesy Mark Zed.

Workers in high-vis filling garden beds with soil on the south-western corner of the building.kers

Workers building the steps to University Drive on the eastern side of the building.

Landscaping and paths on the site's southwestern corner (left) and works on the steps and foot bridge connecting to University Drive (right).

Internal timelapse - March 2024

Watch how a lab on level 8 has been constructed and fitted out to enable research in Proteomics, Microscopy, Genomics and Flow Cytometry research to occur.

Internal timelapse video of a lab being constructed from December to March 2024

Connection to colleges

Over the last six months, the activation team has connected with researchers and teams across the Colleges of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Medicine and Public Health to:

Identify, document and allocate which staff and equipment need to be relocated - and when.
Assess the space required in HMRB wet labs, office spaces, storage and controlled environment spaces.
Develop detailed plans for each group to allow appropriate planning and minimise disruption to research.
Increase communications to staff via a staff Town Hall information events.
Create an intranet page that provides staff moving details, FAQs, information sheets and more.
Plan safe moves for sensitive instrumentation, chemicals and specimens that need a controlled temperature throughout their relocation.
Identify all induction and training needs, so everyone is ready and prepared to work in the new building and with the new equipment.

The two female college Deans of Research pictured outside with native plants and the HMRB building in the background

Two Deans of Research pictured at the last Town Hall event: Professor Billie Bonevski from the College of Medicine and Public Health (Billie is also Director, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute), and Professor Rebecca Golley, from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (Rebecca is also Interim Director, Caring Futures Institute and a Matthew Flinders Professor.)

What's next

Between March and June, the following work will occur:

Final fit-out, commissioning and handover of documentation.
Completion of the Indigenous garden on the northern side of the building.
Practical completion of the construction phase.
Installation of foyer artwork.
Staff Town Hall, inductions and training for operation of new equipment.
In May, the first 200 staff will be relocating ,with the remainder of staff who are moving to follow on a rolling schedule over the subsequent six to eight weeks.
Planning for the official opening.

Support the HMRB

The HMRB is all about preventing and treating disease through collaboration - between researchers, industry, healthcare professionals and the community. We know that when we come together for a common goal, we can achieve great things and transform lives.

That's why we're reaching out to our Flinders community – please join us to support the vital research that will take place within HMRB, so that our researchers can change lives and change the world.

Change lives, donate today

Artist's impression of students around the walkway to the HMRB entrance steps, from the Flinders Railway Station.

View the Flinders Village website

If you were forwarded this email and would like to subscribe for further updates, please email HMRB@flinders.edu.au