Deakin University required an experienced head contractor to design and construct their “BatTRI-HUB 2.0” – a new world class battery fabrication, testing and diagnosis facility. INTREC successfully delivered this HUB which expands the capabilities of Deakin’s current battery engineering facility, translating research to pre-commercial scale prototyping, testing and innovation services.

The project included establishing three types of laboratories; a dry lab that will exploit the possibility of creating the inner core of the batteries, a glove box lab that will assemble the delicate parts of the batteries and lastly a battery testing lab. Also required were cell and pack testing facilities, new workspaces, workshop and storage areas.

The project required mitigating a number of technical risks. Establishing a proper dry room area, connected with a dehumidifier to create a calculated environment without allowing humidity to increase was a risk in its own, all penetrations through the room had to be properly done to sustain air pressure.

Acquiring a powerful chiller with longer lead times than anticipated and installing it on the steel roof platform was another significant project risk.

Connecting and enabling power for the complex equipment which the University had acquired, was an additional challenge. Due to equipment delivery concerns and changing of specifications, there were various design challenges while the labs were well into the construction phase.

Extensive coordination was required by the INTREC team to install all equipment, especially with external stakeholders such as FRV. The equipment was successfully installed and made operational, which enabled the client to start with their experiments.

INTREC also delivered the projects’ two Practical Completion dates within the designated timeframes. The result was creation of a high-quality lab at the immense satisfaction of the end user.