Start of work on Joint Facility marked by Minister

22 August 2017

Start of work on Joint Facility marked by Minister

The start of work on a world-class $206 million joint facility to house AgResearch and Lincoln University researchers, students and staff - and create new ways of working together for greater impact - is being viewed as an important step forward for agriculture, science and education in New Zealand.

Leaders from AgResearch and Lincoln University were joined by Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, and Minister for Science and Innovation, Paul Goldsmith in marking the early work being underway on the site of the new facility today.

The facility, parts of which will be complete in 2019 and the remainder in 2020, will accommodate 700 scientists and students who will work and learn in a new shared environment, to produce innovations for New Zealand’s primary industries and help grow the New Zealand economy. The facility will be jointly owned by AgResearch and the University, and DairyNZ will be a tenant.

“The connections forged inside this facility are going to mean a new era of top quality science and impact for agriculture, which will in turn mean more prosperous communities across New Zealand,” says AgResearch chief executive Tom Richardson.

“It is also going to be a huge drawcard for the smartest minds to join in our research and keep us at the cutting edge.”

“There’s been a lot of work done to get to this point of having a spade in the ground, and the site now being prepared for the 27,000 square metre building. I think there is a real sense of anticipation that we are going to have a facility that is something quite special.”

Lincoln University Chancellor Steve Smith called it a historic day.

“Lincoln’s future in the national tertiary system and its national and international standing will be defined by what happens within the walls of these buildings that will become the first physical home for the Lincoln Hub.

“The opportunity for Lincoln University – one which we intend to seize – is to unleash the potential inherent in having our teachers and students working alongside and partnering with the leading-edge scientists from AgResearch, other CRIs and industry.

“The real power in learning and research comes from proximity: human relationships, being in the same space; chance conversations and the synergies observed between different academic and scientific disciplines,” Mr Smith says.

Minister Goldsmith was joined by representatives from Lincoln University and AgResearch at the event in signing a document to be placed in a time capsule that will eventually be incorporated into the site.

Selwyn MP Hon Amy Adams also attended the event.

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