Project
Roslin Innovation Centre
Construction
Education
Scotland
Client
The University of Edinburgh
Value
£22,000,000
Duration
113 weeks
Architect
Atkins
A world leading centre of veterinary research, education and clinical care.
The Roslin Innovation Centre and Campus Hub development was constructed to provide an iconic and high-quality building to bring together clinical teaching, research and enterprise activities into a vibrant and interactive environment in the heart of Scotland’s capital city.
The new centre is an iconic gateway building within the Easter Bush Campus which acts as a visual indicator of the University of Edinburgh’s commitment to research excellence. The building reflects the merger between the Vet School and the Roslin Institute in providing a world-leading centre of veterinary research, education and clinical care. To strengthen the employment base in the area and allow the continuing evolution of the Bush Estate as a world-leading site for animal research, the centre aims to provide a dynamic and vibrant working environment with world-class facilities equipped with the latest technologies.
The construction of the newly built Innovation Centre included; research laboratories and offices, retail outlets, a gymnasium and general administration and support services for staff, students and visitors to the campus.
The project involved the construction of a basement, a three-storey quadrant and ellipse shaped building linked by an atrium corridor. The building has a concrete frame structure with a mix of curtain walling and rain screed cladding forming the external elevations. The internal fit-out is primarily a mix of laboratory space and open plan office areas. As well as, specialised laboratories with two hundred and eighty-five workstations there are shared support areas including tissue culture rooms, incubator space, cold rooms and changing facilities.
Iconic
Gateway
Building
The building is split into distinct and contrasting elements:
- The Jewel – a glazed elevated building seen as an announcement attracting visitors and campus users towards the shared facilities. To enhance this element and to mark it as unique and special, an artwork manifestation was created on the outer glass facade.
- The artwork manifestation is a geometric pattern that is evocative of a leaf patter which is seen as a metaphorical connection back to nature. It was also created to encourage ventilation within the offices. A building wrapped in natural materials, grounded and seen as an extension of the landscape. The building materials compliment those of the adjacent centre building, Roslin and Vet school.
The scale of the building was to be in keeping with the Roslin Institute building and the New Vet School.
The Easter Bush Campus, which hosts the largest concentration of animal science and animal welfare related expertise anywhere in Europe, was declared open by the The Princess Royal – Chancellor of the University and Patron of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
The Roslin Innovation Centre will provide companies with state-of-the-art facilities, first class customer service and accelerated access to strategic research opportunities. The Centre provides an opportunity to extend and promote our collaborative commercial research, while providing the necessary space to extend and develop strategic partnering opportunities with large and small businesses.
