Did you know that Northshore Hamilton now has a state-of-the-art biomedical manufacturing facility producing Australia’s first needle-free vaccine patch?
Queensland biotechnology company Vaxxas plans to manufacture millions of needle-free vaccines at the new facility where cutting-edge technology produces patches that allow vaccines to be administered through the skin’s surface in a matter of seconds. This breakthrough innovation positions Queensland as a leading player in the globally competitive Asia-Pacific biomedical industry.
The facility is expected to boost the state’s economy and create up to 200 local and skilled jobs. The State Government provided funding and operational support to Vaxxas, aiding the transformation of an existing warehouse at Northshore into the manufacturing facility.
With completed human clinical trials and ongoing studies for COVID-19, influenza, and other vaccine targets, Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine patch technology is progressing rapidly toward commercialization. David Hoey, Vaxxas CEO, expects the first commercially available vaccine patches to be manufactured and distributed from the Queensland facility within the next three to five years.
Photo Credit: Vaxxas
The government’s commitment to supporting local biomedical start-ups and fostering innovation has contributed to Queensland’s growing reputation as a research and innovation hub.
The establishment of the Vaxxas facility aligns with the Queensland Government’s Biomedical 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan, which aims to further develop the biomedical sector in the state. Currently contributing $2.1 billion to Queensland’s economy and employing over 12,000 people, the biomedical industry is set to attract more interstate and international businesses through the upcoming Queensland Biomedical Business Attraction Program.
Deputy Premier Steve Miles expressed his excitement about the facility’s opening on 19 June 2023 and highlighted the importance of expanding Queensland’s capability in vaccine development, manufacturing, and delivery. He emphasized the vital role that Vaxxas’ needle-free technology could play in pandemic preparedness by enabling the quick and easy deployment of vaccines to communities.
“Monet in Paris,” a multi-sensory experience featuring the works of the founder of impressionist painting, Claude Monet, will mark its world premiere at Northshore Hamilton.
From the same team that delivered “Van Gogh Alive,” the new exhibition, debuting on 7 June 2023 and will run until 6 August 2023, will be housed at the Le Grand Palais.
Unlike a traditional exhibition, there will be no physical works by Monet. Instead, his masterpieces will be a scaled-up 360-degree presentation set against a 250-metre marquee that even non-art lovers will find exciting.
The immersive exhibition, which will have over 3,000 images, will be even more unforgettable with scents and sounds to really set the mood. Also featured in the exhibition are the masterpieces of Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas.
Depending on your ticket package, “Monet in Paris” will also feature a two-hour Paint Like Monet session for 18-year-old and above guests and a High Tea in Paree celebration at the S4 Gallery.
Paint Like Monet’s package includes:
Two (2) Entries into the Monet in Paris Experience
Two (2) Glasses of Champagne de Saint-Gall Premier Cru (or a tipple of your choice)
A two hour session allocated for painting your masterpiece with guidance, including all supplies
High Tea in Paree’s ticket package has:
Two (2) Entries into the Monet in Paris Experience
A 3-tiered arrangement of decadent sweets and artisanal savouries to share
Two (2) Glasses of Champagne de Saint-Gall Premier Cru, wine, beer or non-alcoholic beverage
Your choice of a Pot of Maison du Thé tea or coffee
Youth company Flipside Circus, the largest youth arts organisation in Queensland, has opened Brisbane Circus Centre, their new home located at Northshore Hamilton.
Flipside Circus Creative Director and CEO Robert Kronk said they wanted a space that was big and bold and playful and this newly opened facility ticked all the boxes.
“The building is like a bit of circus apparatus in itself; it’s playful, it opens out, there are cantilevers jutting out in all directions and we have some really cool plans to break out of that building in novel ways and hang people off walls and overhangs,” Mr Kronk said.
Photo credit: Flipside Circus/Facebook
Flipside Circus’ new home is made from shipping containers and prefabricated materials, which was designed based on Northshore Brisbane’s values of adaptability and future-proofing.
The new centre offers a variety of classes, aerials like lyra, silks and trapeze, mini-trampoline, hula hooping, juggling, and devil sticks.
Mr Kronk finds it exciting that the Brisbane Circus Centre will not only help the organisation expand their training program but the capacity to create and perform shows to share with audiences at home.
The centre is supported by the Australian Government, which contributed $1 million towards its construction through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development’s Community Development Grants Program.
Flipside Circus is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to empower communities through circus. To learn more about their programs, visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
Altis Property Partners has acquired its second large-form industrial investment for $32.25 million in the Northshore Hamilton Priority Development Area.
The site on Cullen Avenue West is part of the Trade Coast precinct, one of the largest employment sites and sought-after locations in Queensland. Spanning 12,032 square metres, the property’s tenants include Freedom Fuels, Scout Aerial Services and Plastral.
Altis intends to upgrade the business park in time for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and make it available for more tenants. This was the key reason for the company’s decision to secure the asset because of its benefits in the future.
“One of the key characteristics which attracted us to this asset is the benefit from the future infrastructure investment in the precinct,” Gareth Price, the Director Capital Transactions at Altis said. “The Northshore Hamilton Priority Development area will undergo a major transformation into a vibrant, mixed-use precinct. This new industrial acquisition fits within our strategy of buying in core markets, centrally and conveniently located to employment hubs, with access to key infrastructure.”
“We are thrilled to add this asset to Altis’ diversified AREEP4 fund due to its diversified income and near term positive rental reversion opportunity due to the short weighted average lease expiry (“WALE”),” James King, the Director Investment Management and Capital said. “This acquisition reflects the exact type of asset the fund is targeting with the ability to access value by increasing the net rental income and extending the WALE in a tightly held precinct with the lowest vacancy rate of c0.6% in the Brisbane industrial market. Despite the headwinds caused by the inflationary environment we find ourselves in, we feel strong supportive fundamentals remain for the industrial sector at the right entry prices.”
It comes a few months after Altis also acquired a 9.03-hectare industrial investment in Western Australia and a Build-to-Rent project in Melbourne.
Biotech company Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine facility in Hamilton will feature a house office, R&D laboratories, and device and cleanroom manufacturing spaces.
The existing warehouse on the site will be refurbished to make way for the needle-free vaccine facility, to help Vaxxas manufacture its proprietary high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) for Phase II, Phase III and early-stage commercial use.
Photo credit: vaxxas.com
The new facility, which is a key part of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan, is set for completion in the first quarter of 2023.
Once construction is finished, Vaxxas expects to manufacture enough needle-free vaccine kits to deliver 300 million doses each year at full capacity.
According to Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles, Vaxxas will employ up to 110 high-skilled biomedical experts when operating in early 2023.
“This could grow to more than 139 new jobs over five years, which will go a long way in securing Queensland as a globally competitive Asia-Pacific biomedical hub,” Mr Miles said.
How A Needle-free Vaccine Works
Photo credit: Queensland Government
Vaxxas’ technology uses a small patch with a surface of thousands of micro-projections coated with a vaccine to deliver the vaccine to the abundance of immune cells immediately below the skin surface.
According to Vaxxas Chief Operations and Development Officer Angus Forster, their high density micro-array patch (HD-MAP) technology can deposit a vaccine through the surface of the skin in just a few seconds.
“Our clinical research shows that this elicits a more efficient and effective immune response than traditional syringes due to the abundance of immune cells immediately below the surface of the skin,” Mr Forster said.
Mr Forster added that there will be an opportunity to make the transportation of vaccines to rural and remote communities much easier as the vaccine patch can be stored at temperatures as high as 40ºC.
Developer Limitless Residential has submitted an application for a 23-storey residential-led development on Hercules Street within the Northshore Hamilton Priority Development Area.
The proposed development, to be called “The Cullen”, at 5 Hercules Street will offer a mix of land uses including residential, retail shop, F&B, office, medical centre, educational establishment, indoor entertainment and indoor sport and recreation.
The Plus Architecture-designed project will include 100 residential units including 50 two-bedroom and 50 three-bedroom units. Each unit will have a functional balcony that leads to the main living area. The balconies are designed to be big enough to accommodate outdoor furniture and be a usable space.
The Cullen proposed site | Photo Credit: Economic Development Queensland / edqdad.dsdip.qld.gov.au
The podium will comprise four storeys containing retail tenancies on the ground level and three levels of car parking behind an articulated facade, and a recreation terrace. The level 4 communal space will contain a lap pool, spa lounge area, a sauna, outdoor barbecue areas, an indoor gym, yoga, and a pilates studio.
The Cullen | Photo Credit: Economic Development Queensland / edqdad.dsdip.qld.gov.au
“The materiality chosen for the podium includes brick patterning to connect with the industrial history and development within the broader area of the PDA. Being located at a key entrance point for the PDA, provides an excellent opportunity to provide this style of locally distinctive outcome, which has been achieved successfully in other areas, such as Woolloongabba.” – Mewing Planning Consultants
The application will be assessed by Economic Development Queensland as it is situated within the Northshore Hamilton Priority Development Area.
New roads, cycle tracks and footpaths, at Northshore Hamilton are now complete and open to the public, and will be used as part of the city’s preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
The roads, as Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles said, are adjacent to the Athlete’s Village site and would assist vehicle movements around the precinct during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Artist’s impression of Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Athletes’ Village (Photo credit: statedevelopment.qld.gov.au)
The works, which cost around $18 million, includes road, stormwater and utilities upgrades, three new roads, more separated cycleways and subtropical urban landscaping at the eastern end of Northshore.
“Importantly, these works are creating new land supply that will shortly come to the market and is expected to generate over $500 million of private sector investment and support over 1600 construction jobs,” Mr Miles said.
Artist’s impression of Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Athletes’ Village (Photo credit: statedevelopment.qld.gov.au)
Mr Miles added that the accelerated delivery of supporting infrastructure will be vital to support the development of the Village that will ultimately host more than 10,000 athletes and team officials for the Olympic Games and more than 5000 for the Paralympics.
“As the state moves towards 2032, legacy projects such as the Athlete’s Village at Northshore will benefit Queenslanders for decades to come.”
Mr Miles said Maritime Green, the newest immersive riverfront activation space at Northshore is also now complete.
“Opening up more riverfront that has been closed to the public for over 100 years due to port operations, will support local businesses including Eat Street Northshore,” he said.
Brisbane’s Art Boat will be moored near Eat Street, showcasing The Spheres byinternationally renowned visual artist, Lindy Lee.
Ms Lee is an Australian artist, whose practice explores her Chinese ancestry and Taoist philosophy.
Photo credit: Brisbane Festival/Facebook
Ms Lee’s work, The Spheres, drew inspiration from Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who speculated that celestial bodies caused vibrations as they coursed majestically through the heavens.
Pythagoras termed it ‘Music of the Spheres,’ a philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of the moons, stars, and planets, as a form of music. Ms Lee’s work is inspired by symbolic gestures and processes that call on the element of chance to produce a galaxy of images that embody the intimate connections between human existence and the cosmos.
As it returns this year, Brisbane’s Art Boat will embark on special midnight and dawn cruises as well as a mindfulness program.
Photo credit: Brisbane Festival/Facebook
For the Northshore Loop, the boat will continue upriver towards Breakfast Creek, Newstead, and Teneriffe before returning back to Northshore, Hamilton.
The Art Boat experience is part of the 2022 Brisbane Festival, which begins on 2 September and ends on 24 Sept.
Mark your calendars! See the Art Boat
What
Art Boat
Where
Northshore Hamilton
When
Sept 2-24,2022
Please note that guests are not permitted to bring any food, drinks or alcohol on board. There’s a food outlet selling a range of pre-cruise meal and snack options and an onboard bar for light meals, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
To book and learn more about the ongoing immersive art experience in time for Brisbane Festival, visit brisbanefestival.com.au.
Some of the best places in the world stand out because it’s ever-evolving to keep pace with the needs of their inhabitants and Northshore Hamilton exemplifies this evolution very well.
Northshore Hamilton is currently a premier mixed-use urban renewal precinct with a first-rate waterfront neighbourhood.
Centuries ago, this site was the fishing and camping ground of the First Nations people given its location near the mouth of the river and proximity to Breakfast Creek, with its abundance of fish and wildlife.
A decade from now, it will become the site of the Athlete’s Village for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Busy Camping Ground of Yerrol
The First Nations called Northshore “Yerrol,” which refers to strong vines used as ropes. In the 1830s, Northshore was already a busy area as the site was a dense riverine rainforest pocket, offering different food sources for both humans and animals. Historians said that the First Nations people often caught large quantities of fish from this area to supply Brisbane’s fishing trade from the 1830s to the 1860s.
The Northshore-Breakfast Creek site was once a large Aboriginal campsite with different groups settling down to hunt and interact with other groups. This was the home to thousands, especially during hunting season.
After the 1860s, horse-drawn wagons filled the streets, establishing a travel route between Hamilton Hotel to Breakfast Creek. In fact, Hamilton was one of the first places in Queensland to have its own horse trams.
Yet moving by water was still the quickest way for the Aboriginal people with Northshore as an important crossing point. Access to waterways was located at the area where Brett’s Wharf stands, a corner between Bulimba and Newstead, and a section in the east that has the Gateway Bridge today. These access points had shallow water, making it easier to wade across destinations.
Photo Credit: Northshore Brisbane
Following the colonisation and settlement, the First Nations people continued to camp in Northshore until the end of the 19th century when their populations were routed out of urban centres. Not far from their camps on Kingsford Smith Drive were several institutions that took in the Aboriginal people. By 1910, the campgrounds disappeared in Northshore.
The Progressive Northshore Port
In the 1870s, the Hamilton Wharf (Portside Wharf) was a growing shipping area and served as the landing site for ferries connecting to Bulimba. As activities in the wharf increased with the development of several estates in Hamilton and Ascot, chief engineer of Harbours and Marine, Ernest Alexander Cullen planned to improve and expand the port with the construction of training walls and more dredging. His idea gave birth to Northshore.
Photo Credit: Lost Brisbane/Facebook
Mr Cullen also urged the government to capitalise on Northshore for its industrial future. For the next 20 years, active development of the precinct continued. After the First World War, the government built the Cold Stores Wharf for exporting products like butter and cheese to Britain. This ushered the progress of Northshore as the vital export centre of Queensland.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In the late 1920s, plans to build Brett’s Wharf were laid out by E A Cullen for commercial shipping. During the Second World War, this area was commissioned by the Allied Forces to stage and load military equipment. Millions were spent to add more facilities as Hamilton became the chief base for naval repairs. The Northshore Port developed rapidly during this period.
Photo Credit: Queensland Maritime Museum/Facebook
After the war, Northshore remained the hive of activities for shipping industries exporting wheat, sugar, and livestock to other countries, especially in war-torn areas of Britain. By the 1970s, the Port of Brisbane Strategic Plan was established to erect a new container port for more commercial endeavours.
Northshore Hamilton: Ambitious Urban Renewal
After Brett’s Wharf was closed to commercial shipping in the early 1990s, Northshore’s urban renewal was hatched. The focus of the redevelopment was to turn the precinct into a mixed-use public site with high-rise units, restaurants, retail outlets, supermarkets, cinema, and a public plaza.
In 2007, the State Government approved the Urban Development Authority Act to tackle housing issues. This served as the catalyst for what Northshore Hamilton provides today.
More than 64 hectares of land in Northshore were set for infrastructure projects that delivered a residential and commercial precinct with new parks and cycleways. The old ports and wharves were also repurposed into riverfront public sites like Eat Street Northshore.
In the next 10 years, Northshore Hamilton through Economic Development Queensland will see through the development of training venues that will host more than 15,000 world-class athletes for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. After this monumental event, Northshore Hamilton has been earmarked for more residential accommodation, aged care facilities, and hotels.
Since the arrival of the early European settlers in Brisbane, Hamilton and its environs have always been regarded as a highly desirable area to reside. One local landmark that has stood the test of time for over 150 years is Hamilton Hotel, a place that history also credits for giving the suburb its name.
Early Beginnings
Gustav Hamilton, a prominent solicitor from Toowoomba, opened the Hamilton Hotel in 1865 for horse racing patrons. Gustav, a prominent landowner in the Eagle Farm district, built the hotel which still stands on the same site today.
Located at the corner of Kingsford Smith Drive (formerly Hamilton Road) and Racecourse Road, the hotel first catered to horse-drawn wagons travelling from Breakfast Creek. Because of its strategic location, the hotel was part of a major travel route in Brisbane.
The white building is possibly the Hamilton Hotel on the corner of Racecourse road. Photo Credit: Lost Brisbane/Facebook
Hamilton Hotel was a large wooden structure, similar to a huge homestead, set by the banks of the Brisbane River.
Frequent guests fondly referred to the hotel as “The Hamilton,” which became the main reference point of the district, especially since there were not a lot of busy and prominent establishments in the area. It wasn’t long until “Hamilton” came to informally refer to the entire area, not just the hotel.
Wealthy Enclave. Destination Location.
It was Hamilton Hotel that launched the suburb as a destination location as its patronage increased and the suburb’s residents grew. The hotel promoted the scenic surrounds of the locale and provided the community and guests with both convenience and socio-cultural enrichment.
From the 1860s to the 1880s, the suburb of Hamilton also became known as the “gentlemen’s estates” as settlers built their large villas and mansions here, spurring a boom for the residential sector.
Even then, the subdivision allotments that went up for sale in Hamilton were priced two or three times more than the blocks in nearby suburbs, such as Mitchelton.
Photo Credit: Lost Brisbane/Facebook
Hamilton attracted old wealth and everyone regarded the suburb as an ideal place to live because of its premier location. The elevated lands gave residents a sweeping view of the beautiful river scenery, the central business district, and the surrounding suburbs.
Photo Credit: Queensland Places
When Gustav retired to Toowoomba, he sold Hamilton Hotel to Sam Hamilton who made the most out of the famous family name and sustained the venue’s popularity.
In 1904, Hamilton was officially recognised as a town and the owners of Hamilton Hotel changed hands a number of times. Among its previous operators were J.R. Ahern and his wife, and E.J. Stewart of the Stewart Hotels.
Modern Transformation
By the 1960s, then-owner Castlemaine Perkins Ltd completely rebuilt the hotel as a modern two-storey brick building, with a concreted car parking facility that could accommodate more than 200 cars. The hotel also had a bar and lounge that could accommodate hundreds of guests at a time.
Tom Wilson, the managing director of Castlemaine Perkins Ltd, planned the rebuild of the hotel carefully into two sections to improve the efficiency of the hotel’s operations.
The new Hamilton Hotel introduced an unusual ventilating system that eliminated cigarette smoke indoors. Its design also took advantage of the natural light for the public bar facing Kingsford Smith Drive, whilst a private bar for 200 guests fronted Racecourse Road.
Photo Credit: Hamilton Hotel
Hamilton Hotel became known as luxury accommodation with an upstairs and downstairs dining room, as well as a food dispensary that provided guests with choices of quick snacks and a wide-ranging menu that could satisfy the most discerning taste.
Eight cold rooms were built at the back and three rooms with walls that can be dismantled were added for other uses. This made it easier for the hotel staff to serve bar guests refreshing drinks and good food.
All the self-contained rooms on the second floor had their own toilet and bath, Hallstrom refrigerator, television, and telephone. There was also a built-in table in each room so that traveling businessmen can make their quarters their temporary office.
In the 1970s, another renovation added venues like the Pioneer Grill Room, the Tally Ho Bar, and the River Rooms fine dining area to the hotel, allowing it to accommodate more events such as business seminars, birthday parties, and wedding celebrations.
Hamilton Hotel Today
The ALH Group, under Bruce Mathieson, took ownership of the hotel as its expanded its business in Queensland in 2000. In 2015, Hamilton Hotel commemorated its 150th birthday and has remained a popular and trendy social venue for both locals and tourists.
Today, Hamilton Hotel is pegged to benefit from the upcoming multi-stage development of Northshore Hamilton, the massive event space and recreational centre, prior to the 2023 Brisbane Olympics. Stage 1 of this development is underway.
