Designed by Architectus, the UNSW Health Translation Hub (UNSW HTH) is the new flagship of Sydney’s Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct - uniting research, education, clinical collaboration and the public realm in one seamlessly integrated vertical campus.
The purpose-built UNSW HTH has a clear mission: to help cut the time it takes for medical discoveries to become real-world patient care. Laboratory, teaching, workplace and clinical research environments are deliberately interwoven rather than separated – which makes it much easier for ideas and people to interact and have impact.
Architectus led the architecture, interior design and planning for UNSW Sydney, Plenary Group and delivery partners, shaping the UNSW HTH to be a conduit between the university’s Kensington campus and its neighbouring hospital facilities.
Two elevated pedestrian bridges stitch the 14-storey building into its context, linking west to the Wallace Wurth Building and east to the Sydney Children’s Hospital and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
The tower’s design takes its inspiration from Sydney’s coastal landscape and climate. A layered facade of glass-reinforced concrete panels, curved aluminium sunshades and high-performance glazing recalls the local coastline’s wind-carved dunes while delivering a calibrated environmental response. The envelope reduces solar heat gain by about 60 per cent without sacrificing transparency or views, a performance-led strategy that also gives the building a strong urban presence.
At street level, highly glazed frontages and more than 2,500m² of publicly accessible space create a porous ground plane that connects campus, hospital and neighbourhood. Generous internal and external thresholds – lobbies, terraces, landscaped edges – extend the public realm into the building and warmly invite non-clinical users into what might otherwise read as an unapproachable medical facility.
Internally, a multi-level atrium forms the social heart of the building, linking four podium levels via sweeping stairs, clear sightlines and generous circulation zones. This central volume is not simply about access; it’s a space where different user groups are brought into visual and physical proximity. Clinical research areas, workplaces and learning spaces are arranged around the atrium, ensuring activity remains connected rather than siloed in closed corridors.
Above the podium, flexible floorplates accommodate education spaces, dry research labs and work environments designed to evolve as health and digital technologies change. Clear zoning, integrated planting and subtle shifts in the floor pattern all support intuitive wayfinding without too much reliance on signage.
Country, place and climate responsiveness are all embedded in the UNSW HTH, developed in collaboration with Aboriginal-owned studio Yerrabingin and ASPECT Studios. An Indigenous interpretation of the site’s history and ecology is expressed through planting, material selection and landscape form, ensuring the project does more than occupy land – it acknowledges and responds to it.
Guided by the UNSW Climate Action Plan and developed with sustainability consultants, including Atelier Ten, the UNSW HTH is fully electrified and powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. The building is targeting a 6 Star Green Star (Buildings v1) rating, with an estimated 20 per cent reduction in operational carbon emissions and energy use. Its digital infrastructure is independently recognised through WiredScore Platinum certification, reinforcing the project’s ambition as a resilient, future-ready home for health innovation.
Operational since late 2025, the UNSW Health Translation Hub is already serving its purpose beautifully: making collaboration easy, movement efficient and, most importantly, the path from ground-breaking research to life-changing patient care more direct.