A V Hill Building

Following selection for the University of Manchester architectural framework Wilson Mason were appointed to the team for the Smith Extension Project. The project is a state of the art laboratory dedicated to high level research. The building is designed around a central light well to admit daylight into the deep plan of the building. The light is well set between laboratory and write up spaces that have been separated into their different uses and stacked to provide the most efficient services solution. The building provides around 4,000m² of biomedical laboratories and 4,000m² support/write up spaces. The project integrates into the surrounding buildings with the use of ‘bridge links’ at third floor level. This runs though the building as a feature within the atrium. The design approach generated for the building locates core laboratory facilities, shared by all building users at ground floor level, this incorporates a freezer farm and histology suite in addition to a large laboratory space for vibration sensitive equipment. First to fifth floor levels are designed to provide a generic laboratory space supported by a range of cellular spaces providing secondary research functions. This is separated by the atrium from the non lab support space which provides meeting rooms for 15-30 persons and 8 individual offices each supported by 6 open plan write up spaces for post graduate research staff.