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Genome Centre, Norwich Research Park

Facts

Location Client Cost Size Completion Awards
Norwich, UK John Innes Centre, Zeneca Agrochemicals £10m 7,600m2 2002 1

Project details

BDP has been working with John Innes for more than a decade, initially on a masterplan to appraise site infrastructure services for future development and subsequently to set the context for new buildings.

The Genome Centre is a flagship laboratory joint venture between John Innes and Syngenta on the Norwich Research Park for collaborative plant bioscience research. The three-storey building incorporates genome research and gene function laboratories equipped with advanced robotics technology, an innovations centre or ‘incubator’ unit for biotechnology start-up businesses, ‘dry lab’ offices including the high IT/computing function of bio-informatics and an interstitial plant floor to provide ease of maintenance and critical flexibility to facilitate future alterations to the ‘wet’ labs above and below with minimal disruption to science. Adaptability is a key feature of the design for this rapidly changing field of scientific research.

The naturally ventilated central atrium encourages a social dimension, stimulating the intellectual interaction essential to successful research and acting as a boundary between the ‘wet’ labs and offices and write up/meeting areas. It also acts as a window into the research and robotics areas, showcasing the bioscience laboratory environment in order to stimulate clients and visitors.

Results

  • Norfolk Association of Architects Award 2002

Integrated services

masterplanning, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental engineering, civil & structural engineering, lighting, acoustics