Tall & Urban News

The Sir Michael Uren Hub, which provides flexible laboratory space for biomedical science and engineering research, is named after the pioneer of the cement substitute GGBS 

The facility contains research laboratories, clean-rooms, a future outpatient clinic, 160-seat auditorium and a series of social spaces for academics, researchers and clinicians.

The tight site, located on the north side of the elevated A40 Westway, means the building has a triangular footprint. 

Externally, the hub’s façade consists of glazed curtain walls, the two long sides each covered in 1,300 precast concrete fins, each four meters high, and in seven variants arranged in a randomized pattern. These contain a high percentage of ground granular blast-furnace slag (GGBS), the sustainable cement substitute pioneered by the hub’s main benefactor, Michael Uren.

In the internal layouts, the apex of the triangle is treated as a "tower of plant," providing a plant room at every level, allowing for both efficiency and resilience. This permits a range of spaces, from heavily serviced laboratories closer to the plant to lightly serviced spaces for write-ups and social activities at the wider end.

Each of the 10 research floors is flexibly designed with a layout tailored to the needs of specific research, whether dementia, musculoskeletal, or nanotechnology. The top floor is reserved for seminars and meetings, featuring an auditorium and social spaces offering views out across London. 

Throughout the interiors, structure and services are semi-exposed reducing material use, while workspaces are naturally lit and lofty, with four-meter floor-to-ceiling height windows. 

For more on this story, go to Architects' Journal.