The University of South Australia (UniSA) built a new $247 million health and research facility to support a collaborative and holistic approach to health research. The project, which began in 2015, was designed by BVN Architects and Swanbury Penglase, and involved the construction of a 15-storey health and education building along the Riverbank Biomedical Precinct at North Terrace.

Direct Fire worked with Promat Australia to establish a suitable and cost-effective fireproofing solution for the electrical penetrations on behalf of NSG Boffa, the contracted electrical specialists for the project. Promat’s PROMASEAL bulkhead sealer system batts and PROMASEAL SupaWrap were specified for the majority of penetrations throughout the construction.

PROMASEAL bulkhead sealer system, the fire protection system approved by Promat for this project, is the simplest of all firestopping products to install. It is also one of the most economical products to use, and can be installed in both concrete/masonry floors and walls (with an equal or greater fire resistance level) and has been tested up to 120 minutes with various penetrating applications.

In many buildings, power cables (e.g., for information technology and telecommunication services) are continuously added, altered and removed. PROMASEAL penetration seals enable this process to be carried out with the minimum of mess and inconvenience.

Special Gasses Enterprises completed the fitout for the medical gas copper pipework penetrations, which were protected with PROMASEAL SupaWrap 40.

Copper pipe and electrical penetrations were fire-rated by using Promat systems, achieving a fire rating to the -/120/120 FRL requirement.

Opened in 2018, the elegant new building is home to UniSA’s research-rich School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, the globally recognised Centre for Cancer Biology (an alliance between UniSA and SA Health), UniSA’s technology-based business incubation hub (in collaboration with DXC and the State Government), the Innovation and Collaboration Centre, and a new and unique future-focussed public museum, MOD.

References:

[1] http://www.unisa.edu.au/Campus-Facilities/Maps-Tours/University-of-South-Australia-Cancer-Research-Institute/

[2] http://www.unisa.edu.au/Media-Centre/Releases/2018/-UniSAs-247m-Cancer-Research-Institute-opens---an-epicentre-for-cancer-and-aligned-research-/#.W9fvizFoSUk

[3] https://www.nsgboffa.com.au/construction-projects/education/item/67-unisa-health-innovation-building.html