Client: Northwest Healthcare Properties
Location: Kelvin Grove, QLD / Turrbal and Yuggera Country
In a high-dependency healthcare environment, cooling infrastructure isn’t just about thermal comfort — it’s mission-critical. At 44 Musk Avenue, the existing chiller and BMS plant were nearing end-of-life, posing a growing risk to essential services. The facility houses the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s blood storage freezers, which must maintain precise temperature ranges 24/7 to protect life-saving blood products. Any cooling system failure could jeopardise supply, safety, and compliance.
Alongside this clinical demand, Northwest also had strategic sustainability goals — seeking to reduce reliance on grid electricity, lower operational emissions, and enhance long-term asset resilience. The challenge was to deliver a future-focused solution that could meet both the precision and performance needs of tenants, while supporting Northwest’s broader environmental commitments.
All this had to be delivered within a live healthcare setting — requiring careful planning, minimal disruption, and seamless commissioning.
Lucid began with a holistic review of the existing plant arrangement, identifying opportunities for both operational improvement and energy efficiency. We collaborated with structural engineers to accommodate significant new infrastructure — including ten 8-tonne glycol ice tanks — and delivered detailed whole-of-life cost analysis to inform decision-making. Working closely with Northwest and key tenants, our team designed and managed the upgrade to ensure seamless integration with ongoing operations.
By combining renewable energy with thermal storage, this project shows what’s possible when sustainability and system resilience go hand-in-hand. Lucid’s engineering has helped Northwest set a new benchmark for critical health infrastructure — securing life-saving operations while lowering emissions. It’s another step toward creating a better, more sustainable world — one system at a time.
