Commercial & General delivers another critical piece of nationally significant health infrastructure with completion of Australian Bragg Centre

Commercial & General has successfully delivered another major piece of health infrastructure, with the $500 million Australian Bragg Centre achieving practical completion.

The milestone means the building that will house Australia’s first proton therapy unit is now complete, putting ground-breaking cancer treatment in Adelaide another important step closer.

“The health expertise and global relationships we have built into our business have really come to the fore on this project, enabling us to deliver on a complex build that has never been done before in Australia,” Commercial & General Executive Chair Jamie McClurg said.

“It’s also one of the first in the Australasia, so I’m incredibly proud of our team who have been able to achieve it on brief, on time and on budget.

“There are few development and delivery teams who could have delivered on commitments made back in 2016 with a global pandemic and the environment we are faced with today, but that is the value of a proudly South Australian build program.”

The purpose-built 15-storey biomedical development in Adelaide’s BioMed City precinct will also be home to leading cancer researchers, clinicians and the State Government’s Department for Health and Wellbeing teams.

“In delivering the Australian Bragg Centre as well as Calvary Adelaide Hospital – the largest private hospital in South Australia, amongst other health projects– our unique expertise has developed into an unmatched capability of delivery in biomedical and healthcare assets,” Jamie said.

“We’re proud to be able to deliver these projects but it’s people and communities who are at the heart of health infrastructure projects.

“From origination to delivery, we’ve remained focused on this truly being a project with impact – not only will proton therapy save the lives of Australians with cancer, but this centre will become a leading site internationally for research into the treatment of complex cancer.”

Construction of the Australian Bragg Centre by Lendlease involved the removal of 66,000 tonnes of earth and the pouring of 7,000m3 of shielding concrete across 29 separate concrete pours with 281 precast panels, 121 tonnes of embedded steel shielding plates and three individual shielding doors weighing approximately 220 tonnes in total.

Commercial & General engaged specialist consultants from Australia, Europe and the US to ensure construction of the bunker that houses the proton therapy unit meets the specific tolerances required of the technology, including radiation shielding and vibration minimisation.

When in full operation, the proton therapy unit will have the ability to treat approximately 600-700 patients per year.

The Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research is being funded through a public/private partnership including SAHMRI, Commercial & General, Dexus, the Federal Government and the Government of South Australia.