UMIST

Manchester, UK

Project outline

The project comprises a new build Life Sciences facility bringing together Key elements of seven different Departments such as BioMolecular Sciences, Instrumentation & Analytical Science, Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering, Maths & Material Sciences and Computational Science. The building is partially funded by The Wellcome Trust and comprises of five floors of laboratories and offices and a top floor of plantroom accommodation. The laboratory areas include:

• Containment Level 3 and Tissue Culture suites
• NMR suite
• Mass spectrometry suite
• General wet chemistry labs
• Electron microscope suite
• DNA and Ancient DNA suites
• Bioinformatics
• Confocal and Flow Cytometry labs

Joint winner of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce ‘Building of the Year’ Award.

Contract value

£27M

Key features

• Triple glazed office façade with solar tracking vertical blinds.
• Displacement ventilation to meeting rooms and dining area.
• Central fume cupboard extract system, with provision for future connection of fume cupboards on a modular basis. 
• Variable volume fume cupboards to minimise energy use.
• Separate extracts to class II safety cabinets in Containment level 3 and Tissue Culture lab areas.
• Specialist gases, de-ionised water, compressed air and cooling water services provided around the laboratories.
• Rainwater re-cycling for flushing of WCs and urinals is incorporated.
• The six-storey structure comprises in-situ concrete framed laboratory area separated by an atrium from the steel framed office/administration support area.
• Reinforced concrete has inherent resistance to vibration and the ribbed slab gives flexibility for service openings.  
• The office areas use precast “ThermoDeck” floor units on a steel frame, using the thermal mass of the floor to assist in the thermal comfort of the building.  
• Previous industrial uses of the site have resulted in the presence of contaminants in the ground, old filled basements and uncharted tunnels in the sandstone bedrock. Remediation works include treatment of contaminated areas and reuse of existing fills. 
• The culverted River Medlock runs under a part of the building. Foundations generally are piled.

Skills utilised

• Acoustics
• Building Services Engineering
• Civil and Structural Engeering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Fire Safety Engineering
• Noise and Vibration
• Planning Supervision

Appointment

• M&E
• Civil/Structural
• Planning Supervisor
• Fire Engineering
• Acoustics
• CFD (F/C Emissions)