Eli Lilly & Company Research Centre

Surrey, UK

Eli Lilly & Company closed its Windlesham campus to consolidate its UK R&D group back to the USA in 2019. It was purchased shortly after by the pharmaceutical company UCB to replace and expand its R&D facilities based in Slough.

Chris Abell and Bruce Nepp, the team formerly operating as Abell Nepp (AN) who are now part of Buro Happold, were engaged as laboratory designers for UCB’s new campus with design architect, Heatherwick Studios.

The first science buildings were built at the Windlesham campus in the 1960s with two additional R&D buildings more than 20 years later.

The new UCB facility will reuse most of these refurbished labs while replacing the older ones.

The design and specification provides flexibility to enable the laboratories to accommodate either chemistry or biology uses.

Planning the laboratories involved considering the provision of new technologies such as high-throughput and bio-physical screening.

Challenge

The first science buildings were built in the 1960s with two additional R&D buildings more than 20 years later. Abell Nepp was initially retained in 2010 to refurbish the 1960s labs to provide spaces that could flex between chemistry and biology activities. To keep the building operational during the works, the £27m project was subdivided into eight sequential refurbishment packages.

The new UCB facility will reuse most of these refurbished labs while replacing the older ones.

The containment level for the laboratories is both CL1 and CL2. The design and specification provides flexibility to enable the laboratories to accommodate either chemistry or biology uses. Planning the laboratories involved considering the provision of new technologies such as high-throughput and bio-physical screening.

Solution

The infrastructure of the laboratories is designed to ensure sufficient extraction, power, data, gases, vacuum etc.

The laboratory furniture and equipment, at the centre of the lab, is movable to accommodate different functions.

Access for maintenance also had to be considered. Some facilities have an interstitial services void over part or all of the lab space. This provides an area for maintenance staff to reconfigure services, thereby reducing the disruption to the scientists.

A RIBA Stage 2 BREEAM assessment determined that the design would be able to achieve a BREEAM Very Good rating. A series of further enhancements, to achieve BREEAM Excellent, were implemented however the client chose not to continue with the formal assessment process.

The completed projects, including our most technically sophisticated research buildings, have been delivered to our highest expectations, on budget and to programme, and are recognised for their design quality and sustainability credentials; what is more important is the praise from scientists who have an excellent environment in which to carry out their research.”

Cullen Whyte, Eli Lilly & Company

The building envelope was designed and constructed to thermal performance and air leakage targets that surpass the requirements of Part L of the building regulations, with the majority of materials used in the construction of the building fabric receiving an A rating in the BRE Green Guide to Material Specification.

Solar control glazing and brises soleil were used to maximise the amount of daylight without the side effects of overheating. All the internal finishes and building insulations are specified to have zero ozone depletion potential and a low VOC (volatile organic compound) content.

The laboratory furniture and equipment, at the centre of the lab, is movable to accommodate different functions. Image: Eli Lilly | Abell Nepp.

Value

Our experts have twice reworked the spaces at the Windlesham campus, initially for Eli Lilly & Company. In 2015 the refurbishment was a finalist of Environmental Improvement in the S-Lab Awards.

More recently, the team has taken on the task of redesigning the space for UCB, the new owners of the site, to ensure the facilities match the needs of the new client and its own cutting edge science.