Delivering the Southern Hemisphere’s first Quantum Materials Laboratory

Delivered within a 100-year-old heritage-listed building, this project involved the complex refurbishment of existing space to create a new Quantum Materials laboratory – the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and a significant step forward for research in this field.
Although delivered under a lump sum contract, extensive buildability input was required due to the project’s unprecedented technical demands. SHAPE worked closely with a highly engaged end-user and the design team to navigate these challenges.

The facility includes two Class 1,000 cleanrooms for fabrication and lithography, and two Class 10,000 cleanrooms supporting a Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) laboratory. Strict service tolerances, air control and contamination prevention were essential, with orbital welding of ultra-high purity lines carried out after the cleanroom envelope was installed. To maintain purity, concurrent works in these areas were kept to a minimum.

SHAPE commissioned a point cloud survey and led a coordinated 3D modelling process to manage the dense volume of services. Over 1,600 service clashes were resolved during design, with SHAPE staff embedded with the mechanical contractor to plan every detail.