The BRAGGS is the new research Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) and an undergraduate teaching facility at the University of Adelaide.
The central philosophy of the building is to enable researchers from different disciplines to come together to enable a transdisciplinary approach to research.
The methodology has required a building that supports both formal and informal collaboration. As such, the building investigates methods of three dimensional connection of space within the tight security and safety requirements of a leading laboratory environment, through its positioning on campus, its relationship to campus life, and its strategic inclusion of two vibrant internal vertical streets.
The facade integrates the notion of glass and light – key mediums of Photonics – through the development of a facetted glass envelope that wraps the building. Each level is facetted at varying angles of acuity to represent the different wavelengths of light as they are refracted to reveal colours of the light spectrum. The result is a crystalline form that shimmers through its reflection and refraction of light throughout the day. It is a building that symbolically represents its photonics research core, and in turn develops an integrated environment for leading transdisciplinary scientific research.
AWARDS 2014 Property Council Australia - SA Development of the Year 2013 RAIA SA Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture
