Another milestone for AURIN! After many happy years in the Thomas Cherry building we recently moved into a new state-of-the-art office space in the iconic Baldwin-Spencer building on the University of Melbourne Parkville campus.
The University refurbished a ground floor area to accommodate our team, generously invested $3.2m to support our growing success. The space has been custom made for AURIN, designed to let ideas thrive, providing us with a beautiful and contemporary new workspace. It also highlights the University’s commitment to supporting innovation and collaboration within the research community.
‘Our move to the new AURIN HQ marks the beginning of an exciting new phase for us. This wonderful new workspace will serve as a welcoming place for all our academic, government, and industry partners, while also providing an inspiring space for our team to continue our mission of supporting innovation that improves the lives and environments of all Australians. The potential of this space is limitless and I can’t wait to see how it enables meaningful collaboration that leads to positive changes in urban environments across Australia.’ —Prof Pascal Perez, Director AURIN
To celebrate our move we’ll be hosting a special launch event with our AURIN network. A highlight of the day will be the unveiling of a unique artwork by celebrated Indigenous artist, Lowell Hunter, aka Salty One. The artwork will both be a visual centrepiece in the new space, and a tribute to Indigenous culture and its importance.
‘The design of the new AURIN office beautifully blends Indigenous artwork on the soft furnishings with a color palette inspired by nature. The centerpiece—a boardroom table created by the Salty One, Lowell Hunter—was the initial inspiration for the space. Lowell created a stunning sand artwork for us as part of an AURIN staff retreat at Angelsea. Knowing Winya were able to burn images into wooden furniture, I suggested we replicate Lowell’s sand artwork on the boardroom table. Later I had the idea that the colour palette should reflect the colour tones of the beach where the artwork was created. The design captured these ideas perfectly. I’m immensely happy with the result—it’s a beautiful and uplifting space to work in.’ —Tracy Baylis, Head of Operations AURIN
Our whole team is so excited for this new phase of AURIN and we can’t wait to get to work in this new space. We’re looking forward to a future filled with collaboration, innovation, and empowering research that positively impacts the lives and environments of all Australians.