RESEARCH AND EDUCATION BUILDING

Last updated 21 May 2008

What's New...Autumn 2008

• May 2008: The new $95 million building for research and education at Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is to be called the Kolling Building, in recognition of the hospital's long association with the Kolling Institute of Medical Research - one of the State's leading medical research institutes and the oldest in NSW. The name Kolling recognises the hospital's long-standing commitment to research which directly benefits patients and helps improve clinical practices. This decision, and the building's impressive physical presence on the site, will help give the research and education community a stronger, more recognisable identity. It will also emphasise the critical importance of clinical teaching and medical research in our hospitals.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS... MAY 2008

Above: The western side of the Kolling Building emerges from its façade.	Above: The southern side of the building with its distinctive checkerboard louvres.
Above: Professor Michael Field pictured in the new auditorium.	Above: Professor Michael Field and Professor Rob Baxter in the new library.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

A $95 million ultra-modern new research and education facility (concept pictured above) is now under construction on the Royal North Shore Hospital campus - the building will be knows as the Kolling Building.

The consolidation of research and education activities will create a dynamic environment with a greater capacity for teams to share knowledge as well as resources.

The building will have its own architectural identity and discrete presence on site, but will have good connection into the new main hospital building, allowing easy flow from the acute care area to the research area for the many staff members engaged in active clinical research.

The education centre on the lower levels will provide teaching and training for medical, nursing students and allied health students, and ongoing professional development for RNS staff.

A combination of lecture theatres, tutorial rooms, and seminar and conference rooms will be located on the ground level. The first floor includes tutorial rooms, a library, a clinical training area, a computer skills and learning lab, staff and student amenities area and an administrative zone.

The research facilities occupy the upper levels and provide a combination of laboratory and administrative space for range of research projects, with a capacity to share high-cost laboratory equipment and common support services.

The construction of the building is considered a priority because of the need to unlock the centre of the campus for the future development of the new main hospital building.

Work on the new main building is dependent on the centre of the site (currently occupied by the research and education teams) being vacated. Once research and education has been consolidated into its new building, the older style buildings currently occupying the centre of the site will be demolished to make way for the new main building.

The project will provide new construction jobs in the short term and potential employment for additional research staff in the future.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

Above, left: The new building under construction in August 2007 and, right, in May 2008 showing the rapid progress on the project.

About "Kolling"

The Kolling Institute of Medical Research (the Kolling), located at Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) was founded in 1931. It is one of the longest-established medical research institutes in Australia.

The Kolling was named after a prominent businessman, Charles Kolling, following a generous in memoriam donation from his wife Eva Kolling.

Its five major areas of specialty are Cancer, Renal and Cardiovascular Research, Pain Management Research, Bone and Joint Research, and Perinatal Research.

About the new facility

The new R&E Building is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2008.

The R&E Building will have its own architectural identity and discrete presence on site, but will have good connection into the new main hospital building, allowing easy flow from the acute care area to the research area for the many staff members engaged in active clinical research.

The education centre will provide teaching and training for medical, nursing students and allied health students, and ongoing professional development for RNS staff.

A combination of lecture theatres, tutorial rooms, and seminar and conference rooms will be located on the ground level. The first floor is expected to include tutorial rooms, a library, a clinical training area, a computer skills and learning lab, staff and student amenities area and an administrative zone.

The research facilities will occupy the upper levels and provide a combination of laboratory and administrative space for a range of research projects, with a capacity to share high-cost laboratory equipment and common support services.

The construction of the new research and education building is considered a priority because of the need to unlock the centre of the campus for the future development of the new main hospital building.

The project will provide new construction jobs in the short term and potential employment for additional research staff in the future.

The R&E Building is being delivered by Bovis Lend Lease as a managing contractor project.

About research at Royal North Shore Hospital

RNSH has a well-established research community with about 300 laboratory based researchers currently located on site.

Many more researchers, based outside of NSW or indeed Australia, have expressed enthusiasm to join the research community at RNSH. Until now, that enthusiasm, and the potential to welcome many more innovative and productive researchers, has been limited by physical capacity and infrastructure.

Despite these restrictions, RNSH's capacity to produce high quality and relevant research has not been compromised. The majority of medical staff are integrally involved in clinical research, embracing novel technologies that have the potential to make a difference to health outcomes. The translation of research outcomes to clinical care is only maximally appreciated by individuals cared for under a system where research is integrally involved in care.

Research at RNS has resulted in improvements in health care delivery across a range of areas including:

• Acute stenting of arteries, which increases blood flow to the heart muscle - in patients with a heart attack this has reduced death rates and complications of heart failure significantly
• Innovations in pain management have reduced the time that individuals are incapacitated and unable to return to work or an integrated position in society
• Novel prostheses in bone and joint disease have improved functional outcome
• Early diagnosis of cancer based on genetic abnormalities has directed therapies.
• Additional key areas of research relate to diabetes, kidney disease, maternal/fetal medicine and hypertension and stroke.
• The Kolling Foundation (formerly known as the Northern Medical Foundation) was incorporated in 1996 and represents a coalition between Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, University of Technology Sydney, University of Sydney, researchers and the community. Located at Royal North Shore Hospital, the Foundation aims to foster outstanding health and medical research at the highest level across a wide range of programs.

About education at Royal North Shore Hospital

RNS has an active education program which includes teaching and training for medical students, nurses, students of other health disciplines, medical post-graduate staff, allied health professionals and other groups.

The Northern Clinical School is responsible for the coordination and delivery of the University of Sydney Medical Program to about one third of the Faculty of Medicine student load. It does this through the facilities of Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, utilising most of the hospitals in the lower sectors of the Area as well as private hospitals and community-based practices.

The School is based at Royal North Shore Hospital, where it also operates the Northern Clinical Skills Centre and the Pam McLean Cancer Communication Centre. These are specialised units for training in physical examination/procedural skills and clinical communication respectively. Programs have been made available to other health professional groups, junior medical officers and advanced trainees in surgery and other disciplines. The Clinical School also works collaboratively with the Sydney Medical Simulation Centre located at RNSH.

The Clinical School also oversees the studies of over 100 postgraduate research students working within the facilities of RNSH and associated hospitals.

RNSH is also well-known for its nursing education, in association with leading universities, particularly the University of Technology, Sydney. Nursing education programs include clinical placements for nursing students, enrolled nurse training programs, attainment/conversion courses (which train enrolled nurses to administer medications), ongoing development opportunities for registered and enrolled nurses, clinical leadership programs and retraining to return to work initiatives.

Ongoing staff training in a variety of areas including occupational health and safety, mandatory training and computer skills is managed by the Area's Learning and Development team.

About the University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university and conducts cutting-edge research across the broadest range of disciplines of any Australian University.

The University's research spans three broad thematic areas; the humanities and social sciences that seeks to cultivate a civil society through visionary research and artistic creation; science and technology that offers insights into the natural and physical world and provides innovative solutions that will underpin Australia's future economic prosperity; and health and medical research that encompass research from agents of disease to increased patient care. For more information, visit http://www.usyd.edu.au

Milestones

Above, from left: University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Professor Gavin Brown and NSW Minister for Health Reba Meagher sign the historic partnership agreement between NSW Health and the University of Sydney. The partnership will deliver $30 million funding from the University of Sydney for the new Research and Education building at RNS. Pictured with the Vice-Chancellor and the Minister are, from left, Associate Dean Northern Clinical School Professor Michael Field, NSCCAHS Chairman of Research Professor Carol Pollock and Acting Chief Executive Terry Clout.

12 September 2007: University of Sydney partnership announced

As part of the redevelopment of Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH), the NSW Government has provided $61 million to fund a new purpose-built facility for education and research on the hospital campus at St Leonards.

The University of Sydney has now confirmed that it will contribute $30 million towards the construction of four levels of structure and façade (levels 7, 8, 9 and 10) for the Research & Education (R&E) Building, bringing the total project funding to $91 million.

More importantly, the announcement signals the beginning of a unique new partnership between NSW Health and the University, with national and potentially international significance. The partnership is expected to deliver significant benefits to both the hospital community through new research and training synergies and opportunities, and the wider community, which will benefit from research discoveries and innovations, improved clinical practice and workforce education.

The University of Sydney funding includes the fitout of two of the additional four floors (levels 7 and 8). Funding is being sought for the fitout of levels 9 and 10.

The $30 million Sydney University funding will provide accommodation for an additional 150 researchers in the building, bringing the total number of researchers to 250; the fitout for the final two floors (levels 9 and 10) will bring the number of laboratory-based researchers occupying the building to 350.

At present the new R&E Building will accommodate only laboratory-based (so called `basic') researchers. A Stage 3 of the project has also been proposed contingent on funding; this stage will provide accommodation for an additional 150 researchers, providing accommodation for a total of 500 researchers when RNS's research aspirations are fully realised.

There are many more clinical researchers taking the results of basic research to the care of patients, but it is not feasible to accommodate these researchers within the research building as clinical research infiltrates all aspects of care and hence is best provided in the clinical setting.