- Novartis officially opens their new smart, efficient and innovatively designed office in Macquarie Park
- The development represents Novartis’ continued long-term local commitment to delivering healthcare solutions that help make a difference to the health and wellbeing of Australians, now and in the future
- The office sees the Novartis Group (Alcon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz) coming together for the first time in Australia, with a focus on continued innovation through collaboration
Novartis has reinforced its long-term commitment in Australia with the opening of a new smart, efficient and innovatively designed building in Macquarie Park, officially opened today by Minister for Health, The Hon. Sussan Ley and Federal Member for Bennelong John Alexander MP.
“Our new office is built for longevity and sustainability and represents our local commitment as a leading pharmaceutical innovator and a genuine contributor to the health and wellbeing of Australians,” said Brian Gladsden, Managing Director and Country President.
The building brings together some 500 head office associates across Alcon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz, with the aim of inspiring innovation and increasing collaboration within and across divisions, and with their healthcare partners. It also provides an opportunity to create a more efficient footprint moving from three office locations to a single location in Macquarie Park. Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz moved into the premises in October 2015 and Alcon will move from French’s Forest in mid-2016.
“Science-based innovation is fundamental to improving outcomes for patients. To ensure we continue to deliver solutions to address healthcare needs, we wanted to create a workplace that inspired ideas and invited employees to connect and collaborate.” said Brian.
Designed with the principles of activity-based working in mind, the office offers a variety of work settings enabling all associates across all levels of the company, to choose how they would like to work every day. Spaces include collaborative desks for teams to work together, a range of focus spaces for individual tasks and sit to stand desks to help with the physical health of employees.
Sustainability has been a fundamental part of the development and the consolidation has also reduced Novartis’ environmental footprint. Novartis has engaged with Macquarie Connect and Ryde Council on the long-term vision of transforming transport in and around Macquarie Park, and through the implementation of a sustainable commute policy are encouraging employees to explore opportunities to travel to and from work, with the environment in mind. The building includes an extensive end-of-trip facilities with 70 cycle racks, a bike repair station and drying room as well as showers for associates to use. The office is a premium A-grade building that meets the 5 star Green Star and 5-star NABERS energy rating requirements and a wide range of features were included to ensure that natural light and fresh air are maximised.
“Novartis is an important partner in delivering health solutions to our community. Innovation in research and development is essential, and we appreciate Novartis’ contribution, including investing around $30 million in R&D here in Australia each year.” John Alexander MP, Liberal Member for Bennelong said. “It’s wonderful to welcome their businesses to Macquarie Park as one integrated team and to see they have already been supporting partners in the community by sharing their new facilities for key events” he added.
Essential to the new office and Novartis’ new way of working is mobility. The IT connectivity throughout the building supports technologies to ensure mobility and accessibility so people can easily work from any space in the office. These include a Find Me application showing where associates are working, Follow Me print queue to print in any area and the ability to connect wirelessly to present in the various meeting spaces.
“By breaking down barriers and working more collaboratively, we can focus on innovating for Australian patients, which is at the centre of everything we do. Collaboration is also essential to ensuring we continue to provide value to patients and the government, and enable new treatments that help make a meaningful difference for many Australians. In 2016 we celebrate 20 years of Novartis and we look forward to continuing to be a part of healthcare in Australia for many years to come.” said Brian Gladsden.
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Issued by CUBE on behalf of Novartis. For media enquiries or interview opportunities, please contact Georgina Morris from CUBE on 0433 469 961 or [email protected] or Camilla Jury Head of Corporate Communications [email protected]
About Novartis
Novartis is a diversified healthcare company and our uniquely broad business portfolio focuses on science-based healthcare sectors that are growing, reward innovation and enhance the lives of patients.
Novartis is helping Australians live healthier lives. Our medicines focus on critical disease areas including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, ophthalmology, neuroscience, respiratory diseases and oncology. Novartis’ history in Australia goes back over 50 years. Novartis is rated as one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies and in Australia we employ around 800 associates across our group.
In Australia, the Novartis Group comprises of Alcon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz. To find out more Novartis in Australia visit https://www.novartis.com/au-en For more about the Novartis visit https://www.novartis.com
About NABERS
NABERS is a national rating system that measures the environmental performance of Australian buildings, tenancies and homes. NABERS measures the energy efficiency, water usage, waste management and indoor environment quality of a building or tenancy and its impact on the environment. For more information on NABERS see https://www.nabers.gov.au