In December, Melbourne-based international architecture firm CK Designworks announced it had won the design of a 1million m² Biological, Medicine, Science and Technology Park in the city of Chengdu.
The Park will be an incubator facility where science, engineering and chemistry students will be encouraged to share ideas and provide research facilities and partner them in the areas of pharmaceutical, engineering, and biotechnology to bring new products to market.
The development will have three iconic buildings, including a residential component for visiting professors and corporate entrepreneurs, an administration building and a 20-level factory that will include research laboratories, lecture theatres, a prototype production section and a display area for new inventions.
“The building will include the latest concepts in sustainability to minimize the cost of heating and cooling and will boast a customized waste treatment system to manage the handling of toxic waste and an internal lake system which will form part of the complex’s cooling system,” said Project leader and CK Designworks Director, Robert Caulfield.
The facility is allied with the University of Sichuan and subsidised by the Chinese government. Mr Caufiled said the owners of the park were also keen to partner with Australian Universities, such as Latrobe University and international corporations.
“For existing corporations (pharmacy, genetic engineering and biological engineering) they provide research facilities for rent (companies such as Cloverleaf have premises in the existing Park) and they provide funding and training facilities for students, staff and professionals,” he said.
Mr Caulfield said he believed CK Designworks was considered as a contender for the project due to success developing a 20 km² master plan project for Nanjing and through relationships developed at both Chinese government and local levels.
CK Designworks recently completed a 40 km² master plan for the Nanjing world heritage area for the Chinese government and is preparing bids for two hotel projects in Beijing.
China currently accounts for about 40 percent of the company’s income. ■