UNSW Sydney has received State Significant Development approval to adaptively reuse and extend its Building E25 BioLink on the upper Kensington campus, with construction set to begin in mid-2026 and the redeveloped facility expected to complete by early 2028.

Originally constructed in the mid-1970s, E25 has served the university community for more than 50 years and was approaching the end of its operational life. Rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the project takes an adaptive reuse approach — retaining the existing building shell while extending and comprehensively refurbishing it to deliver contemporary facilities designed for the ways students, researchers and staff will work and learn into the future.

The project is designed by HDR and will be delivered by head contractor Hindmarsh under a Design & Construct contract. It forms part of UNSW's broader Campus Development Plan and aligns with the UNSW Strategy: Progress for All, which aims to create more inclusive, resilient and connected campus environments that support excellence in education and research.

Research and teaching facilities

The redevelopment will deliver a range of new environments across the building, including contemporary teaching and learning spaces, advanced research facilities for UNSW's School of Psychology, and flexible and adaptable spaces designed to evolve with the university's changing research priorities over time.

Upgraded collaboration and social spaces, improved accessibility and campus circulation, and activated landscaped public areas are also included in the project scope. The programme extends to a stronger campus identity and arrival experience, with improved connectivity across the Chancellery Walk precinct and deeper integration with the adjacent biomedical and science buildings on upper campus.

Located within the Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, E25 sits at an intersection of research, education and industry. The redevelopment is intended to strengthen those connections — both physically, through improved campus links, and programmatically, through research environments that support collaboration across disciplines and with external industry partners.

Sustainability approach

Sustainability is central to the redevelopment. The project commits to building electrification, rooftop solar installation, energy-efficient building systems, water-saving infrastructure and the diversion of 90% of construction waste from landfill — all underpinned by an explicit low-carbon design framework.

The adaptive reuse strategy is itself the primary environmental response. By working within the existing building envelope rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the project reduces embodied carbon substantially compared with new construction of equivalent scale. The approach reflects UNSW's commitment to sustainable campus development and its broader environmental commitments under the Campus Development Plan.

Responding to Country and community

The design has been informed through engagement with the local Bidjigal community, ensuring the building responds meaningfully to Country, place and the broader campus environment. This engagement has shaped the project's approach to landscaping, public realm design and the building's relationship to its site.

The HDR design draws from the site's relationship to water, the coastline and the sandstone geology of eastern Sydney — elements of deep cultural significance to the Bidjigal people. The resulting built form is grounded in its physical and cultural context, integrating a sensitivity to place within a technically complex adaptive reuse brief.

Design context

Building E25 dates from the mid-1970s and has been largely underused in recent years. HDR's design approach treats the existing structure as a point of departure for a contemporary research environment, integrating advanced laboratory and teaching spaces with architectural strategies that prioritise natural light, transparency and visual connectivity across the campus.

As an adaptive reuse of a 1970s building with constrained floorplates, the redevelopment introduces new vertical volumes designed to create dynamic learning environments that encourage interaction — between people, between indoors and outdoors, and between researchers and students from different disciplines. These double-height spaces are a key feature of the design response to the building's existing footprint.

E25's location within the Biomedical Sciences area of upper campus positions the redeveloped building as a node within a larger precinct of research and science facilities. The project improves physical connections with adjacent buildings, reinforcing the sense of integration with the surrounding campus.

Campus Development Plan

The E25 BioLink Redevelopment is one of several projects progressing under UNSW's Campus Development Plan, the framework guiding the long-term physical transformation of the Kensington campus. The plan is focused on creating campus environments that are more inclusive, resilient and connected — environments that support the university's goals in both education and research.

UNSW has received State Significant Development approval for the redevelopment. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2026, with completion targeted for early 2028.

Project credits: Client: UNSW Sydney. Architect: HDR. Head Contractor: Hindmarsh.

Images: Supplied

Architecture & Design Team

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