Laboratory of the future reaches ‘topping out’ stage
Friday 10 September 2010
A new building for the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge has reached the first major stage of completion, known as ‘topping out’. The new building, due to open in 2012, will provide first class facilities to some of the world’s leading scientists and stands as the flagship building for the extension of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Local MP and Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE MP, will perform the 'topping out' ceremony and Universities and Science Minister the Rt Hon David Willetts MP will also attend the event in Cambridge on Friday 10 September to commemorate this landmark moment in medical research.
The laboratory, being built by BAM Construction Ltd, will cost around £200 million and provide space and facilities for more than 400 researchers. The ‘topping out’ stage describes the moment in a construction project where the final beam is placed at the highest point of the building. The architects are RMJM.
The Rt Hon Andrew Lansley CBE, Secretary of State for Health and MP for South Cambridgeshire, said:
“Over the last fifty years we have seen MRC researchers make countless discoveries that have had a tangible benefits for the health of millions of people in the UK and worldwide, from the sequencing of DNA to the development of humanised monoclonal antibodies. I am thrilled both as Secretary of State for Health and constituency MP for South Cambridgeshire to see the new MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology building emerge as a unique centre of innovation and a flagship for the newly-extended Cambridge Biomedical Campus.”
The Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said:
"This super-lab will be the global site for a new age of research collaborations aiming to alleviate human suffering. The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology has already made great strides towards this goal, ploughing back more than £300m of commercial income generated by its discoveries into the life-saving science of the future. This new facility will build on that success."
Sir John Chisholm, chairman of the Medical Research Council (MRC), said:
“The new building will help the MRC to augment the LMB’s globally competitive position as an innovative research centre that fosters translation and collaboration and is built on a strong foundation of ‘blue skies’ basic research, with far-reaching benefits. We are creating an environment that will allow innovative medical research to flourish, helping to ensure that the UK continues to attract and retain international leaders in research.”
Dr Hugh Pelham, director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, said:
“It is extremely gratifying to watch the stunning designs take shape and see the potential of the new LMB building realised before our eyes. Our scientists will make the discoveries of the 21st century in this world-class research centre. We look forward to seeing the next generation of pioneering discoveries from the LMB scientists, and helping to promote Cambridge”
Mr Graham Cash, chief executive of BAM Construction Ltd, said,
“It is very satisfying to reach this stage of such a complex and important project. One reason for that is the excellent team relationship that BAM and the MRC have formed. Expertise helps to create fantastic buildings; but the positive attitude of those involved is just as critical to success. On both counts, this project stands out and the new facilities being created promise fantastic benefits not just for Cambridge but the whole of the UK."
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Dame Alison Richard, said:
"The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology is an institution of established brilliance – research from the LMB has had a global impact. Its proximity to the University of Cambridge has encouraged partnership over many decades, which has unquestionably been of enormous importance to the University, and I believe to the LMB as well. I am delighted that space in the LMB’s superb new building will house medical researchers from the University of Cambridge, maintaining the close bonds between these two world-leading institutions."
A birthplace of modern molecular biology, the LMB is a world-class, multidisciplinary laboratory exploring some of the most complex problems in basic biological science. Since the current laboratory building was opened by the MRC in 1962, the work carried out by LMB scientists has led to numerous awards, including nine Nobel Prizes shared between 13 LMB scientists, leading to the nickname ‘The Nobel Prize factory’. Scientists from the institute have founded several very successful biotechnology start-up companies and continue work on translational research to develop new methods of diagnosing diseases and new treatments.
The new LMB building is the flagship development for the newly expanded Cambridge Biomedical Campus – a key component of the strategic growth of the medical and biotechnology sectors in the Cambridge regional economy. The Campus is a cluster of biomedical, clinical, research, treatment and teaching organisations including University of Cambridge, the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, together with a proposed commercial medipark and the relocation of Papworth Hospital, which will provide an international centre of excellence in biomedical research.
ENDS
Contact details:
For an invitation to attend the topping out ceremony or for pictures and footage of the new building, please contact Adrian Penrose on apenrose@mrc-centre.cam.ac.uk or telephone Cambridge (01223) 402277 or mobile 07990 541520
Notes to editors:
1. The primary goal of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is to understand major biological processes at the molecular level, with the ultimate aim of alleviating human disease.
2. The Large Facilities Capital Fund, administered by the predecessor to the current Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, contributed £67 million towards the project and the remainder is funded by the MRC, which includes income generated from the commercialisation of discoveries made at LMB. The University of Cambridge will contribute about £7.5 million in return for a lease to enable them to house University groups alongside LMB teams.
3. The new LMB building will be 30,000 square metres, approximately twice the size of the current building. The overall structure of the new LMB is reminiscent of paired chromosomes, with two long laboratory areas joined by a spacious atrium containing seminar rooms and a lecture theatre. Sculptural plant towers each side of the building will keep weight and vibration away from the laboratory areas.
- The building has been designed to ensure maximum flexibility for the future and to provide space for specialist equipment and facilities as they are developed. It is also designed to encourage interaction and easy navigation.
- About 600 people will occupy the building, with 440 scientists and 160 support staff. 40 of the scientists will be from the University of Cambridge and there are 40 spaces for temporary initiatives, in particular to support translational work.
4. For almost 100 years the Medical Research Council has improved the health of people in the UK and around the world by supporting the highest quality science. The MRC invests in world-class scientists. It has produced 29 Nobel Prize winners and sustains a flourishing environment for internationally recognised research. The MRC focuses on making an impact and provides the financial muscle and scientific expertise behind medical breakthroughs, including one of the first antibiotics penicillin, the structure of DNA and the lethal link between smoking and cancer. Today MRC funded scientists tackle research into the major health challenges of the 21st century www.mrc.ac.uk.
