The Charles Perkins Centre (CPC) is an Australian

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

hub that primarily focuses on

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

, as well as other related conditions. The centre is affiliated with the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and is located within the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

health precinct at the campus of the university in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The centre is named in honour of alumnus Charles Perkins, the first man of Aboriginal descent to graduate from an Australian university. The centre's academic director is Professor

Stephen Simpson Stephen Simpson (born 8 January 1984) is a South African-American professional racing driver currently competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and previously in the A1 Grand Prix, Champ Car Atlantic Championship and the Indy Pr ...

. Designed by

Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) is a multi-disciplinary Australian design studio established in 2002 and noted for design excellence and a commitment to enhancing the public realm. fjmt has a reputation as an ideas-driven practice "with an agend ...

with Building Studio, construction of the 385 million Centre began in 2012 and was officially opened in June 2014. Completed in the Modernist Australian architectural style, the centre was shortlisted for the World's Best Building award in the Higher Education and Research category at the 2015

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony, one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industry. The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which p ...

. Many professorial chairs at the centre were funded by the 20.6 million sale of a

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

, which was donated to the university in 2010.

Research and education focus

Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death, disability and reduced quality of life in Australia. They are also considered

epidemics An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...

globally.

Background

Charles Perkins was one of Australia's most prominent Aboriginal activists. Born in 1936 to an

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

woman and a Kalkadoon man in

Alice Springs, Northern Territory Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Ali ...

, Perkins graduated from the University of Sydney with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1966. Prior to this, he worked for an

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

fitter and turner A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

company and had also worked for the

City of South Sydney The South Sydney City Council was a local government area covering the inner-eastern and inner-Southern Sydney suburbs of Sydney. It was forcibly merged with the Sydney City Council by the New South Wales State Government in 2004. The council ch ...

, cleaning public toilets. Perkins was a key member of the Freedom Ride, a bus tour through New South Wales protesting small-town discrimination of Aboriginal people. The action was inspired by the American

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

Freedom Ride campaign in 1961 which travelled from

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. In 1969 Perkins began his career as a public servant as a Senior Research Officer with the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. In 1972, as a public servant, he was suspended for alleged improper conduct after he described the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Coalition government in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

as being "racist and

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, '' ...

". He later became the first Aboriginal to become appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The Department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established ...

in 1981. He was a strident critic of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

and their policies. Perkins also had a career as a soccer player, serving as president for the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

team

Canberra City FC Canberra City Football Club, also known for some time as the Canberra Arrows, is a semi-professional soccer club based in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It currently participates in the Capital Footballs Division One compe ...

in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. He died in 2000 from

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

and is survived by a large family, with two daughters and a son. During the 1970s Perkins had a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

and at the time of his death was the longest post-transplant survivor in Australia.

The Picasso painting

In 2010 the University of Sydney received a rarely seen

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

painting from the private collection of an anonymous donor. The painting, ''

Jeune Fille Endormie ''Jeune Fille Endormie'' is a 1935 oil on canvas painting by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso depicting his model and lover, Marie-Thérèse Walter, as she slept. It was sold at Christie's auction house in London in 2011 for nearly £13.5 mill ...

'', which had never been publicly seen since 1939, depicts the artist's lover,

Marie-Thérèse Walter Marie-Thérèse Walter (13 July 1909 – 20 October 1977) was a French model and lover of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to about 1935 and the mother of their daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso. Their relationship began when she was seventeen years old; he w ...

and was donated on the strict understanding that it would be sold and the proceeds directed to medical research. In June 2011 the painting was auctioned at

in London and sold for 13.5 million (20.6 million). The proceeds funded the establishment of many endowed professorial chairs at the centre, which at the time of the sale, was yet to be established.

Building

Construction began in late 2012. It was built on a budget of 385 million. Perkins serves as the symbolic face of the centre, aimed at researching and finding solutions to various illnesses, with over 900 clinicians, students and researchers. Professor Steve Simpson said that "He erkinssought to lead collaborations in situations where a single person or agency could not deliver. In the same way, the Charles Perkins Centre looks beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries to improve the health of individuals, communities and the nation". Perkins' wife, Eileen and their daughters Hetti,

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

and son Adam attended the black-tie opening of the building in June 2014 at which artists including

Megan Washington Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician and songwriter who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has released three ...

, the Ltyentye Apurte Dance Group and students from the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

performed. The building has of floor space and is six storeys tall with four basement levels. The centre can house 950 researchers and 1400 students, with both wet and dry laboratory spaces. The ground and basement levels contain clinical facilities in affiliation with the

. The full-height interior

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

is reminiscent of the atrium inside the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Having been called the "

skeletal system A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

of the building", the atrium features curved balconies and interconnecting sweeping stair cases, serving as the structural expression of the building's purpose. It is the most prominent and noticeable feature of the centre's interior. The curving atrium was designed by architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp who collaborated with the Cubic Group responsible for the fabrication and installation of the primary atrium elements. Additionally, it features a bank of glazed elevators common in atrium-style buildings. The northern facade of the building was designed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, reflecting the

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

of the nearby St John's College. The main southern exterior, which looks out onto the Centenary Institute, was designed primarily in glass and

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

. The building features a large high-tech teaching "X-Lab", capable of hosting 8 different practical classes concurrently, multipurpose teaching spaces, microscopy teaching labs, study pods, a 360-seat auditorium and a café. Clinical facilities include a whole-body calorimeter, metabolic kitchen, exercise physiology gymnasiums, physical testing facilities, phlebotomy bays, biobank, clinical and pre-clinical imaging facilities including one of the world's only 7T and 4T

MRIs Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wa ...

, CT, X-ray and ultrasound; long-term stay beds, wet and dry research labs and more. Research facilities include seven open-plan laboratories with adjacent open-plan office spaces and associated support rooms, capable of each hosting 10 research groups, an animal house facility, and core facilities in cellular imaging and

super-resolution microscopy Super-resolution microscopy is a series of techniques in optical microscopy that allow such images to have resolutions higher than those imposed by the diffraction limit, which is due to the diffraction of light. Super-resolution imaging techni ...

, pre-clinical and clinical imaging,

cytometry Cytometry is the measurement of number and characteristics of cell (biology), cells. Variables that can be measured by cytometric methods include cell size, cell counting, cell count, cell morphology (shape and structure), cell cycle phase, DNA c ...

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

and

proteomics Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replication of DNA. In ...

. The centre served as the "Signature Building" of ArchiCAD 21.

Gallery

Charles Perkins Centre atrium looking upward.jpg, The atrium looking upwards Charles Perkins Centre interior, Sydney.jpg, Looking towards the ground floor Charles Perkins Centre.jpg, Ground floor CPC interior atrium.jpg, Charles Perkins Centre interior atrium showing the glass elevator

References

External links

{{Medical research institutes of Australia , state=autocollapse University of Sydney buildings Sydney Medical School Medical research institutes in Sydney 2012 establishments in Australia Research institutes established in 2012 Buildings and structures completed in 2014 Modernist architecture in Australia