Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Sydney, NSW

The Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology is the University of Sydney’s new 10,000 m² state of the art physics research building. Construction of the building began in mid 2014, with Practical Completion achieved in June 2015.

The building was constructed by Lendlease and jointly funded by the Federal and NSW State Governments and the University of Sydney through various grants.

Contained within the building are:

• Twenty three world class laboratories specially designed for Nanoscience research with two additional, flexible office spaces that can be converted into laboratories
• Open plan office and meeting rooms for teaching and research staff
• Two electron microscope suites
• An ISO Class 5 and 7,500 m² cleanroom with the ability to be upgraded to ISO Class 4 in the future, to house advanced nanofabrication and characterisation tools
• Modern teaching facilities including a 300 seat lecture theatre, an interactive learning studio and a number of smaller seminar and meeting rooms.

NDY’s (NDY) involvement started in the initial bid stage, through GMP with Lendlease, detailed design and construction.

Some of the specific requirements of the design included:

• Tight temperature and humidity control
• Isolation from electromagnetic interference through the use of shielding to the cable reticulation and local laboratory distribution boards
• High W/m² allowance for all laboratories with separate “normal” and “clean” power outlets
• Specialised low electromagnetic interference lighting for the laboratories
• Low impedance technical earthing system for all laboratories.

The primary purpose of the building is to discover and harness new science at the nanoscale level, leading to a dramatic increase in potential applications in the field of engineering and medical science. It is hoped that many of these discoveries will transform communications, medical treatment and energy generation in the 21st Century.