According to Western Sydney University’s Barney Glover, Westmead now hosts a big “lighthouse precincts” of collaboration between industry and academic, health and science institutions – enough to rival Tech Central in the Sydney CBD.
And even better the project forms a key commitment to sustainability as the university notches up first place for its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) in the recently announced Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022.
The WSU Vice Chancellor was speaking to The Fifth Estate about the first stage of the Westmead Innovation Quarter (iQ) – a $350 million health, medical and education research precinct, opened on Friday by Federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic.
There is $3.4 billion worth of investment currently being delivered in Westmead.
For many it’s the precinct of the future that workers will never need to leave – a diverse modern village designed to attract the smartest minds to solve the biggest healthcare challenges of our time.
The goal for the precinct is to encourage innovation and research commercialisation, by co-locating world-class healthcare, education and research facilities within the same neighbourhood.
The Innovation Quarter developed by WSU and Charter Hall, has achieved 6 Star Green Star Design and As Built v1.2 certification, and is targeting Climate Active Carbon Neutral Building Certification. This represents World Leadership in environmentally sustainable building practices.
The 43,000 square metre site is located close to public transport links and includes health, education and research infrastructure and business spaces, alongside 2000 square metres of retail and lifestyle facilities.
It’s part of a precinct that’s also home to the university’s research institutes – MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, NICM Health Research Institute, the Translational Health Research Institute, and Transforming Early Education and Child Health.
Research occurring within the precinct spans integrative medicine, diagnostics and therapeutics, chronic disease, mental health, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, early intervention, med-tech, brain-optimised human machine systems, simulation, neuromorphic engineering, health communication, and more.
Charter Hall Office chief executive officer, Carmel Hourigan, said iQ Stage 1 commercial space is already 100 per cent leased, and there is reportedly strong interest from medical research, biotech and government for stages 2 and 3.
The tenants are organisations such as CSIRO, Telstra Health, WentWest and Psych Central.
Innovation and commercialisation
Professor Glover, said the precinct, under development for a number of years, was part of a long-term strategy to develop the campus into a major research focused innovation hub that aims to solve the biggest healthcare challenges through innovation and commercialisation within the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data shows that Australia doesn’t perform well in international comparisons when it comes to research commercialisation.
The data reveals that only 40 per cent of Australia’s researchers work in private industry, which is well below the OECD average.
As part of the federal government push to diversify the Australian economic base away from resources and towards a knowledge economy, Professor Glover says it is vital to enhance the link between the education sector and industry.
“One way to catalyse and encourage innovation is to have people physically closer together, both to build social interaction and intellectual collaboration.”
Lighthouse precincts
Professor Glover said Westmead was undergoing enormous changes and attracting billions of dollars in investment towards a new and vibrant, diverse modern village.
“This is a really vibrant lighthouse precinct – like Tech Central [in Sydney’s CBD]”.
“This is the essence of Westmead – it’s a big precinct undergoing enormous change. Sydney University is developing there, new hotels are developing there.
One of the new developments in the area was by privately owned property development and construction company Deicorp, which recently completed is a high rise residential building to provide accommodation for students and workers within the precinct.
The idea of lighthouse precincts hinges on the concept that co-locating leading businesses and institutions together within precincts shines a beacon to guide the way towards greater competition, collaboration and innovation.
This comes as Australia sees a strong resurgence in international students returning to the country after three years of lockdowns. While many regions are still on high alert with restrictions in place, and China practising strict zero-Covid strategies, international students are beginning to return in droves and the demand for Australian higher education from foreign students is climbing.
Since international borders reopened in December 2021, the number of international students has risen by more than 120,000.
Sustainability
The university was ranked number one in the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022, for its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
This commitment is reflected in the new building, including energy efficiency and renewable energy powering the site.
“As a university committed to sustainability, we are well aware of the challenges of buildings,” Professor Glover said in the interview.
“Not only must they be sustainable, as efficient as possible in terms of energy consumption, lowered overall space utilisation, and lowered carbon footprint, we are 100 per cent green energy, with a goal for net zero by 2030 and climate positive.”
“Every Australian university is now deeply committed to sustainability, and committed to the UNSDGs.
“Universities are deeply concerned about the future of the planet, and our students are expecting us to lead the debate about the future of the planet… and be exemplars of best principles.”
Stage 2 will be complete in 2023, and Stage 3 will be complete by 2027. After all three stages are completed, the precinct will cover 43000 square metres. Richard Cook is the construction company on the job.
