Healthy buildings, healthy people

When researcher Melkam Kebede started her five-year fellowship at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia, she was struck by the abundance of natural light and design features that encouraged people to move and mingle. “I’ve worked in many places before, but never seen laboratories with so much natural light,” says Kebede, whose research is on the links between type 2 diabetes and obesity. “Usually we are separated by brick walls. Here there are glass walls between the labs and offices.” The design of the building reflects both the function and philosophy of a health research centre focused on finding new ways to combat noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. An enormous white curved staircase that feeds into a series of open-plan corridors on each of the six floors is the central feature of the building. “The stairway keeps us fit. Many people working here have never used the lifts,” Kebede says, adding that the stairway is also the place “where people meet and share ideas.” The Charles Perkins Centre is named after the first man of Aboriginal descent to graduate from the University of Sydney. The centre opened its doors in 2014 and was shortlisted the following year for the World’s Best Building prize in the higher education and research category at the annual World Architecture Festival. For Stephen Simpson, the director of the centre, it was important to create an environment with many meeting points that “draws people together in a campus-like building experience.” The centre includes a hospital clinic and brings together experts from a range of disciplines, from philosophy and economics to engineering, maths, metabolic science and medicine. “The centre houses more than 1000 researchers, many working on multidisciplinary projects, and hosts hundreds of public events each year,” Simpson says. A dedicated team from the university prepared the brief for architect Richard Francis-Jones, based on input from more than 20 user groups, and they all worked closely together to reflect the centre’s public health values in the building design. “The atrium, which is the hub of the building, with its white, organic, curved surfaces, creates a beautiful space where people like to spend time,” says Francis-Jones. The building is designed to increase natural light, access to fresh air and to encourage people to be physically active. “There is a lot of research which supports the benefits of natural light during the day in tune with our circadian rhythms and access to fresh air,” says Francis-Jones.