The brief was to build a new iconic, sustainable, multi-functional building at the university’s existing Kinnaird Road site, adjacent to The Christie’s new Paterson cancer research centre.

The new building can accommodate an additional 150 research scientists, with our design facilitating improved collaboration and interaction between research clinicians and other staff. We acted as driving force of the project, ensuring communication was efficient and effective to meet the project timeline and ensuring the project requirements were met.

A key challenge for this project was to provide state of the art research facilities that fostered collaboration and innovation. This was achieved through extensive consultation with experts in the field to adhere to the stringent industry standard practices needed for those facilities.

The laboratory spaces are contained in three, two storey pavilions, each supported by a third plant floor. The laboratory pavilions are innovatively arranged to provide highly active elevations with fully-glazed circulation routes between each block providing inward views of scientists as they move around the building, allowing cutting edge research to be more accessible to the general public.  This has further been reinforced by the inclusion of a publically accessible bistro and lecture theatre.

The form of the building was heavily influenced by the desire to achieve, where possible, natural ventilation and daylight. The result is a design which provides users with a high-quality working environment, which in turn helps to support the recruitment and retention of world class staff.