UNSW Health Translation Hub – UNSW Randwick

Project: University of New South Wales
Developer: Plenary
Practice: Architectus
Builder: Hansen Yuncken
Location: Sydney, Australia
Planex products: xLocker2 System and S-Series SM Cabinet
Lock technology: Lock Focus 3950, Lehmann Horizontal Dial Lock and Lever Latch

Collaboration at the Heart of Health and Research

Planex is proud to have partnered with Architectus on the newly completed UNSW Health Translation Hub (HTH), developed by Plenary and located within the Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct. The 14-storey facility brings together education, research, and workplace environments to foster collaboration among health professionals, researchers, and students.

Directly connected to the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, and UNSW, the HTH establishes a world-class ecosystem for integrated healthcare, medical research, and learning.

Architectus was responsible for both the base building architecture and the interior design for the UNSW tenancy. The interior fit-out, led by Senior Associate Bindi Mira-Bateman, encompassed more than 20,000 sqm of workplace, learning, and research environments across multiple user groups including UNSW (Levels G–7), Minderoo Children’s Cancer Centre (Levels 3–4), and the George Institute (Levels 8). The Architectus interiors concept translated the architectural vision into human-scaled environments that promote collaboration, learning, and connection.

Design Narrative – Layering the Landscape

Drawing inspiration from the site’s natural geography and early cartography, the base building architecture reinterprets the area’s original sand dune topography through a language of layering and strata. This theme of transition and gradient is further expressed in the fit-out both functionally across the visible floors in the atrium and through subtle material shifts, tonal variation, and horizontal banding throughout the fit-out.

Within this framework, the Planex xLocker2 system was specified for student and staff areas across the lower levels. The Architectus design extended the strata concept through a custom Freefold perforation pattern, designed to graduate horizontally – 100% perforation at the base, 60% at mid-level, and 30% at the top. This rhythmic gradient reinforces the building’s layered narrative while maintaining a refined, cohesive aesthetic aligned with Architectus’s restrained palette.

Scale and Adaptability

Representing one of Planex’s largest installations to date, the UNSW Health Translation Hub integrates approximately 2,584 lockers and 132 S-Series cabinets across seven of the fourteen floors. The modular, reconfigurable nature of xLocker2 enabled efficient installation across expansive zones – including an eight-metre continuous span in the main atrium.

The S-Series units were customised with writable whiteboard doors, creating multifunctional storage and collaborative surfaces. These units serve as informal partitions, supporting agile team-based work and visual privacy without interrupting openness or light flow.

Functionality Across Zones

Locker configurations were tailored to diverse end-user requirements:

• Staff lockers support new workplace-sharing models, with 1:1 staff to locker ration in a wide workplace of 0.75:1 desk to staff ratio, ensuring personal storage within flexible environments.
• Student lockers provide short-term, day-use flexibility aligned with fluctuating campus attendance, based on assumed occupancy levels of one person per six square metres.
• At the Minderoo Comprehensive Children’s Cancer Centre (Levels 3–4), select locker banks feature the Miimii perforation by First Nations designer Lucy Simpson, rendered in terracotta, eucalypt, and blaze blue hues to celebrate Country and embed cultural storytelling within the design.

Innovation in Detail

Planex’s contribution extended beyond form to address functional and technical challenges. Several locker banks were engineered with reinforced tops to enable safe maintenance access to ceiling services-illustrating Planex’s capacity to deliver bespoke, site-specific solutions.

The project’s successful delivery was achieved through close collaboration between Architectus, builder Hansen Yuncken, and Planex, ensuring precision, quality, and design continuity across every level.

A World-Class Collaboration

Through its custom detailing, adaptability, and architectural integration, Planex’s xLocker2 and S-Series systems contribute to the UNSW Health Translation Hub’s broader mission: creating a human-centred, sustainable environment that supports research, education, and the advancement of health innovation in Australia.

Photography by Nicole England