Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building
Reimagining new biochemistry
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A high quality, flexible home for world-leading scientific research in the heart of Oxford.
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Home to 1,000 researchers, the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building unites the University of Oxford’s world-leading biochemistry, pathology, physics, life sciences physiology and engineering departments in an environment designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange.
This multi-disciplinary life sciences building offers high-specification labs alongside specific spaces for focused work, collaboration and knowledge exchange.
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Built in two phases, phase one of the new life sciences building – which won an RIBA National Award in 2009 – reversed the accepted layout by putting laboratories on the outside, where they can be visible to the wider university community.
It also paired a flexible specification for wet labs with comfortable and collaborative write-up spaces, linked to a sociable circulation space in the main atrium to encourage encounters between research teams.
Our challenge was to understand the advances of an increasingly multi-disciplinary research process, creating lab typologies which accommodate multiple uses within one facility, and ensuring the facilities can operate flexibly as a ‘lab hotel’.
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With phase two concluding in 2021, the newly-completed, now-whole building is wrapped in a vibrant, colourful and extensively glazed façade that showcases the scientific activity within for passers-by.
Our partnership on this project lasted 17 years, from start to completion on both phases, and included assistance with fundraising and feasibilities.
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Art has been integrated within the building to facilitate opportunities for artists and scientists to extend their practice and experiment. ‘Salt Bridges’ by Nicky Hirst is a series of artworks that aspire to build a relationship between artists and scientists, while our design team produced a series of artworks within phase two to capture the pioneering research happening within the building. These include ’40 winks’, ‘Rosalind & Raymond’ and ‘A Good Night’s Sleep’.
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This is a fantastic example of teamwork and collaboration. The team’s dedication and skill played a huge part in ensuring it was completed ahead of schedule and under budget - a particularly striking achievement given the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Project details
Project name: Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building
Location: Oxford, UK
Service: Sustainable design, Digital design
Value: £50M – £100M
Scope: Architecture, Interior design
Clients: University of Oxford, Oxford University Estates Directorate
Status: Complete
Completion date: 2021
Accreditation: BREEAM, Excellent
M&E: Hoare Lea
Structures: Pell Frischmann
Project management: CPC
Acoustics: Sandy Brown
Sustainability: Hoare Lea
Photography: Andy Stagg, Damian Griffiths, Tim Crocker, Keith Collie
Awards
WAN Awards 2011 Colour in Architecture - Winner
RIBA Awards 2009 National Award - Winner
Structural Steel Design Awards 2009 Winner