For an integrated health, education, and research precinct for the University of Sydney and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, a design led by Denton Corker Marshall and HDR has been chosen.

Seven science schools will be housed under one roof in the $500 million Sydney Biomedical Accelerator, a facility created to address some of the most difficult medical problems in the world, such as cancer and neurological illnesses.

The building, which will be constructed next to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on the western edge of the university's Camperdown campus, will have a 36,000-square-meter precinct with laboratory research facilities and clinical learning areas.

The design's focus areas are connectivity and functionality, which were developed in collaboration with Arcadia Landscape Architecture and Aileen Sage.

“We designed the building as a clear, simple sculptural form with a solid base acknowledging its campus setting,” Denton Corker Marshall director Adrian Fitzgerald said. There will be a “floating top” with compelling imagery alluding to both scientific investigation within and an embedded indigenous narrative in the sculptural sunscreens, Fitzgerald added.

“Our design achieves the highest level of efficiency and declares its purpose for systematic, methodical, scientific study. It is a building for the future with clarity and memorability combining to produce timeless campus architecture.”

The Denton Corker Marshall and HDR group took first place in the project's design competition. The proposal, according to the competition jury, produced a top-notch biomedical precinct that honoured the bond between the university and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital campuses and, for the first time in history, connected the two.

The jury said that the seven-story circulation tower known as the Connector, which would connect the two institutions, was a "compelling proposition" and would likely promote cooperative contact.

A variety of educational and laboratory research facilities, as well as specialised core labs and technical support spaces, were also designed by HDR to link research with patient health outcomes.

“By pairing our local and global scientific expertise, we have a unique opportunity to design and deliver a series of state-of-the-art, highly adaptable biomedical laboratories where education, healthcare, engineering, and science converge,” said HDR director Graeme Spencer.

The NSW government, Sydney Local Health District, and the University of Sydney collaborated on the initiative. According to the partnership, the architectural plan is meant to reflect this arrangement and enable "seamless knowledge transfer and communication between the hospital and University."

It is predicted that more than 1,200 biomedical researchers and doctors, including 800 PhD students and researchers from university laboratories, will work in the buildings.

The $73 million in charitable contributions, which include a $20 million gift from the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation, help finance the $478 million project. The foundation also supported the creation of the University of Sydney's health building, which was designed by Billard Leece Partnership and Diller Scofidio and Renfro.

Sydney Biomedical Accelerator preliminary construction will start in 2022, and the facility is scheduled to open in 2026.