A building that will help to ‘make science happen’

Great office spaces are more than just the bricks and mortar used to build them. They are built with occupants in mind, to create places people want to work in that encourage collaboration and productivity. A laboratory is no different. Our brief as MEP and lab design consultants for the London Institute of Medical Sciences’ (LMS) new Hammersmith-based home was to create a space that incorporated world-class technical facilities into a building that would maximise the potential of the scientists who work within it. This may seem strange, as we often think of science as a field full of great individuals, but the days of the ‘lone genius’ are long gone. Scientific research is built on effective and constant collaboration. To reflect this, LMS’ new laboratory was designed to celebrate and support truly collaborative team science that recognises that discoveries aren’t made alone. 

Building on a congested hospital site

With these aims in mind, the new 12,500 m2 laboratory will accommodate over 40 research groups for the first time, in a single, ultra-modern space. Until recently, these groups worked in a number of older buildings across Imperial College London’s Hammersmith Hospital campus. This was not conducive to effective collaboration, and so bringing all these groups together under one roof, for the first time, was a key objective of the project. The site itself is congested, with not much room for a new building. As a result the new laboratory is tall, with facilities set across seven floors to accommodate all the scientists and technical equipment required. 

The location of the building on a fully operational hospital campus also created its own considerations. New gas and water supplies needed to be connected to the building. This is often a relatively straightforward task, but roadworks needed to be carefully considered as they would be on a blue light ambulance route. However, building on the existing hospital campus created opportunities too. For example, we were able to connect the new laboratory to the existing district heat-pump network, greatly improving the building’s energy efficiency. 

Creating a site that runs efficiently is essential for any building, and laboratories are no different. Some make the mistake of thinking efficiency is only a consideration once a building becomes operational. However, creating a building that runs efficiently, but more importantly effectively, for the occupiers, begins at the design stage

At the LMS, Estates and Facilities Management personnel were involved throughout the design process. One of the key challenges for Buro Happold’s MEP consultants was to create a site that had impressive energy efficiency credentials – a tough task considering that scientific equipment and essential air filtration systems can be hugely energy-intensive. For instance, air change is an essential part of how any laboratory functions, and a general lab might typically be designed to accommodate six air changes per hour

Air change considerations

Fans constantly remove air and replace it with fresh air from outside. New air entering the building also needs to be heated or cooled to match the temperature requirements of the building. This can be very energy-intensive, depending on the temperature outside. At the LMS, we reduced this to four air changes. This has no detrimental effect on the quality of workspaces or scientific productivity, but is set to create significant energy savings. 

There were also similar considerations when installing fume cupboards on the site. Fume cupboards are needed to extract harmful fumes from the building. However, any air removed also needs to be replaced with fresh air, again making it an energy-intensive process

In the past fume cupboards would run continuously. To solve this problem we decided to use a variable air volume fume cupboard system. This allows the LMS building to only run fume cupboards at full air volume when needed, greatly reducing their energy consumption. 

There were other considerations for the Facilities management team too. We installed smart control systems for heating, cooling, gas, and water, allowing for each part of the building to be monitored and controlled individually. This allows Estates teams to optimise conditions for users and create savings during quieter times. 

Full handover process

We also ensured that Estates teams were trained to operate these systems – a really important part of realising energy efficiency into operation. This included a full handover process with contractors, the Estates Management team, and Buro Happold’s MEP consultants. This is often an overlooked aspect of facilities management, so it was important for us to ensure that the Facilities Management team on site knew how to operate the building and had their questions answered.

Creating a building that runs effectively was just one part of the challenge for Buro Happold’s engineers. Buro Happold’s specialist laboratory consultancy (formerly Abell Nepp Architects) was focused on creating bespoke laboratory space for over 40 research groups. This brought its own challenges, as laboratory space would need to cater for the specialist needs of each individual research group, as well as containing areas where collaborative working between groups could happen. The solution was to encourage the sharing of specialist technical equipment and activities by placing them between open flexible laboratories and write-up spaces. This allowed access to the specialist labs from either end, saving space and reducing costs, and encouraging greater collaboration between teams

We also allocated lab space based on the specialisation of each research group – not only to save space, but also to place research groups whose work most closely overlapped near each other

To achieve this without compromising on the quality of workspace required a huge amount of lab planning. This included  regular consultation with the architects and research groups themselves. This began at the design stage, but continued throughout the construction and handover process too. As a result, we were able to create bespoke laboratory spaces for over 40 research groups without compromising on the collaborative elements of the design

As well as containing traditional wet labs, the new building features a range of bioinformatics facilities that allow for high computational science to take place. With medical imaging central to the work of the MRC, the new facilities feature highly sensitive imaging equipment, including cryo-electron microscopes and confocal microscopes. Installing this kind of technical equipment creates its own challenges. Often specialist equipment is incredibly sensitive, affected by, for instance, fractional changes to humidity, vibrations, temperature, and air pressure. So, before installing equipment we had to make sure that conditions were suitable, but, most importantly, would remain stable. 

Providing a stable platform is essential to making science happen. Scientists need to be confident that all experiments will be completed under the same conditions. This was a significant but important engineering challenge, because when dealing with incredibly sensitive equipment even the smallest vibrations or movements can disrupt experiments. 

Super-resolution imaging

With the super-resolution imaging and cryo-EM suites, our acoustics team needed to mitigate vibration and electromagnetic fields to exceptionally low levels, including those generated by lifts and external vehicle movements. This included designing in and incorporating 20% heavier foundations in these locations, as well as careful consideration of the location of plant and logistical facilities. The significance of this engineering on scientific activity can’t be understated. Office space in the impressive new building. In extreme cases, where this kind of  mitigation hasn’t been well thought through, the use of scientific equipment can be limited to only the night or weekends. This impacts the productivity of the labs, but it also has negative effects on the wellbeing of scientists who work unsocial hours. Through clever engineering we were able to ensure that lab facilities can be accessed 24 hours a day, whenever they’re needed. 

A culture of collaboration

The new LMS building wasn’t just created with scientists’ professional needs in mind. Wellbeing was also a key consideration. We wanted to create a building where scientists could socialise and enjoy their downtime. This included creating public spaces and social facilities, as well as a café on the seventh floor with fantastic views across London. This was all constructed around a visually impressive feature staircase that runs the full height of the building, in a single sweep from the atrium. The result is a bright, open plan building with plenty of natural light. 

The response to all this has been great. Dr Simon Pennell, who helped the London Institute of Medical Sciences to oversee the transition from the old buildings, has told us that he’s already seen the benefits of creating spaces for scientists to socialise and collaborate outside of the lab. He said it has been great to see scientists taking advantage of the design elements that encourage collaborative working – and the stunning views from the seventh floor café. 

Ultimately, the LMS building design recognises that the wellbeing of scientists themselves is just as important to highquality science as the equipment they use

The new LMS building is a shining example of how engineering and architecture can greatly enhanced the experience and productivity of building occupiers. In this case, the design and engineering decisions will directly contribute to the world-leading scientific research of the London Institute of Medical Sciences for years to come. 

Although it’s only been occupied for a few short months, the scientists working there are already beginning to reap the benefits – and the feedback has been great. LMS has said that moving into the new building has really given them a renewed sense of collaboration and purpose. Having brand new laboratory spaces which have been designed around the needs of scientists has really invigorated the research they do. The LMS building really is a model example of laboratory design, and is set to sustain world-class scientific research for years to come