UQ Plant Futures Facility

UQ Plant Futures Facility

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The Plant Futures Facility supports research into sustainable food, fibre, and fuel production in response to climate change and population growth. Defined as a “walled garden,” the building’s concept reflects its typology and context—crafted from brick in a pixilated pattern referencing Queensland’s geological cross-section. From a distance, it reads as a stone wall; up close, it reveals a finely articulated façade. Internally, light and colour, combined with mirrored panelling, reflect the environmental controls of grow rooms, subtly distorting. perception and experience. The facility is both a high-performance research tool and a contextual, culturally resonant architectural statement.

Sector:

Education
Laboratory technician working with plants inside Conviron growth chambers in a controlled environment facility.
Modern brick building with curved arched entrance, glass greenhouses on roof, clear blue sky, landscaping with young trees.
Modern hospital corridor with circular LED ceiling lights, glass doors with safety information, and two people walking in the distance.
Interior of modern greenhouse with polycarbonate panels, metal framework, grow tables, and city skyline visible through glass walls.
Modern brick buildings with glass greenhouses in foreground under clear blue sky, urban garden setting.

Mechanical Plant:

  • Chilled and Heating Hot Water is provided throughout the facility servicing mechanical air handling plant, and process cooling for refrigeration circuits serving multiple grow rooms.  
  • Air Handling Plant
  • Pressure Controlled grow rooms, Laboratories, Rooftop Glass houses

Scope of works

  • Complete Commissioning package (fixed price)
  • Air & Hydronic balancing
  • Set up of pressure controlled rooms and spaces
  • Air tightness testing of all grow rooms, and rooftop glass houses
  • Overall system integration