Project
A Cathedral
to Science
Henry Royce Institute
Manchester, UK
Supplying
Science
Abcam’s headquarters serves as a gateway to the Cambridge biomedical campus, where a vertical and horizontal exterior establishes a distinct and welcoming identity.
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An elegant feature stair, linking staggered floor plates of offices and laboratories, is designed to encourage social interaction and reflect the company’s non-hierarchical organisation and interactive culture.
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The building assists Abcam’s aim to bring all business functions - laboratories, production and distribution facilities - into a single building to drive innovation and efficiencies that help advance scientific research.
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To support the company’s continued growth, the building provides 75% more space, features fully flexible laboratory configurations, and has new technology for enhanced scientific capabilities.
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The Abcam headquarters brings more than 450 staff — who supply research tools to the life sciences and clinical communities — together for the first time in an open, connected, collaborative workplace.
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The headquarters for Abcam unites all business functions in an open, connected, collaborative workplace, to drive the efficiencies that help advance scientific research and support continued growth.
Abcam is a leading supplier of research tools to the global life sciences community, in more than 130 countries. Its new headquarters brings more than 450 staff — in laboratories, production and distribution — together on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus for the first time.
Vertical and horizontal gold brise soleil give the building a distinctive identity as a new gateway to the biomedical campus. Expansive glazing allows views out to the surrounding countryside and displays the work within to the public, putting ‘science on show’.
The interior design reflects the company’s non-hierarchical organisation and interactive culture. An elegant feature stair, linking staggered floor plates of offices and laboratories, provides opportunities for social interaction. The branding strategy uses geometric patterns for wayfinding and to bring privacy to central meeting spaces.
Hard and soft landscaping situates the building within the campus and provides outdoor amenity spaces for employees. It also encourages biodiversity with indigenous plantings, bird boxes and bioswale landscaping for onsite rainwater management.
Awards and Publications
Awards
East RIBA Regional Awards, Finalist
Publications
Cambridge Independent, “Inside Abcam’s new £46million headquarters on Cambridge Biomedical Campus,” March 11, 2019
Architecture Today, “Discovery Drive,” March 8, 2019
