Conceptual framework

TRI is conceived as a series of interconnected places to enable a community of research.   From the intimate to the expansive, the building acknowledges the diverse communities that make up TRI. It enables both the intensity of scientific research and a range of opportunities for collaboration.  The functional yet typically featureless laboratory is elevated to a very human place for people who work at the highest level in the pursuit of scientific discovery.  Careful fabrication of the building gives a crafted finesse to a setting which has an industrial set of expectations.

Public and cultural benefit

Framed within its great window, the outdoor room provides a civic place at the scale of a city and delivers respite to the intensity of research. This memorable landscaped room contributes to the identity and workplace environment while adding significant space to the network of communal places on the hospital campus. The outdoor room allows porosity to the campus and organises multiple entries to a diverse range of facilities.  In particular, the Research Forum facilitates researchers sharing and discussing scientific speculation to a broader audience. Prominent at street level, the Forums glazed side walls reveal the activity of the institution to both Diamantina Road and the outdoor room.

Relationship of built form to context 

Material and colour selections for TRI followed an associative approach for establishment of the building in its context.  Pre-existing, surrounding buildings suggested key materials for the buildings expression including brickwork and Copper Penny Colorbond colour from the adjacent hospital.

Program resolution

Spacious laboratory and write-up areas connected with light and views to other research spaces, hug the edge of the outdoor room with views back to the city. Shared circulation occurs along an arcade with amazingly transparent cross views. Write-up spaces connect to the laboratories with floor to ceiling glass maintaining views out of both workspaces at all times, including critical visual links to the courtyard arcade and social spaces. The planning strategy enables scientists to move throughout all laboratories across all floors without leaving the controlled environment. Meeting, gathering and circulation spaces within the work areas are consolidated at key points to maximise immediacy and casual encounter across and between floors with choices of settings to suit occupation scenarios.  Associated boardroom and staff terraces provide prospect and outlook over the PAH campus and city, providing views to TRI affiliated institutional partners at QUT, UQ and the Mater Hospital.   The outdoor room can accommodate large functions undercover, positioning TRI as an event site. The belvedere, a more intimate meeting place is one of the several open public spaces that offsets its momentous scale. 

CollaboratorsWilson Architects + Donovan Hill Architects in Association

Structure - Aurecon

Mechanical - Mulittech Engineers

Hydraulic - BPA

“On arrival, I think there is almost a sense of joy that you arrive in a garden rather than into a hallway. It’s transformative in so many ways. It reveals the power of architecture.”

— Professor Michael Keniger, former TRI Board Member and past QLD State Government Architect

Awards for Architectural + Landscape Services

2013 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Public Service Delivery – TRI & BPA awarded Highly Commended for Growing and developing Queensland’s future

2013 AIA National Architecture Award Public Architecture

2013 AIA National Architecture Award Interior Architecture

2013 AIA FDG Stanley Award for Public Architecture

2013 AIA GHM Addison Award for Interior Architecture

2013 AIA QLD State Commendation for Sustainable Architecture

Shortlist for 2013 World Architecture Festival, Higher Education category

2013 IDEA (Interior Design Excellence Awards), Highly Commended Public Space

2013 Horbury Hunt Think Brick Award for Urban Design & Landscape

2013 Australian Interior Design Awards: Best of State QLD Commercial Design

2013 Australian Interior Design Awards: Highly Commended Pubic Design

2013 Australian Timber Design Awards, Best Northern Region (Qld & NT)

2013 AIQS Infinite Value Awards - Architectural Excellence Award

2013 AIQS Infinite Value Awards - Project of the Year Award

2013 Engineering Excellence Award QLD Winner, Building Services (awarded to Aurecon, Multitech Solutions, Opus, Hawkins Jenkins Ross)

2013 IES Qld Lighting Society Award for Excellenc

2013 AIA John Dalton Award for Building of the Year

2013 AIA Brisbane Regional Commendation Public Architecture

2013 AIA Brisbane Regional Commendation Interior Architecture

2013 AIA Brisbane Regional Commendation Sustainable Architecture