The extreme heat the west has been experiencing of late may be a thing of the past with the announcement of an Urban Living Lab, to be built at the Sydney Science Park in Luddenham.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Urban Living Lab will provide an onsite testing ground for innovators to create and test their inventions in the future Sydney Science Park’s unique urban environment.
The $5 billion Celestino project will be a fully integrated community that will create more than 12,000 knowledge-based jobs, cater to over 10,000 students and be home to over 10,000 residents.
The park will include 3,400 homes, 340,000 square metres of commercial floor space, 100,000 square metres of education floorspace, and 30,000 square-metres of town centre, as well as 50 hectares of parks and recreation areas.
Jeremy Spinak, from Celestino, said the team are a building a ‘science city’.
“In a few months time you’re going to see this area, this paddock, transform into the largest science park in Australia,” he said.
“We could not to do any better than to collaborate with CSIRO on the Urban Living Lab.
“Australia is a very urban environment and with that we have many urban challenges to face –Â the lab is about solving these challenges.”
Mr Spinak said the first building is due to be finished in 2018.
“We’re going out to innovators around Australia and asking for ideas where we will then choose projects and bring those innovators here to the park,” he said.
“They’ll work in the first building, due to be completed in 2018, and once they’re ready to go, they will test their products in the urban living environment that we are creating here at the park.
“That’s what makes this so unique; We hope we can get these products rolled out and commercialised for the rest of Australia and the world to use.”
Acting Director of CSIRO’s Land and Water Division, Paul Bertsch, said it’s the first operational CSIRO Urban Living Lab.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us,” he said.
“On completion, not only will we have the largest research development park in Australia and the largest innovation hub but I think it will be the most dynamic.
“The Urban Living Lab is going to provide opportunities for collaborations that are unprecedented in government research, sector research and community research.”
The Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Craig Laundy was on hand to launch the Urban Living Lab.
“I love what we are doing here and I’m proud of what we’re doing, ” he said.
From western Sydney himself, Mr Laundy said he can’t wait to see the completed project.
“I look forward to watching this joint come out of the ground and thrive and deliver real long term solutions that can make these suburbs a better place to live,” he said.
