BioMed Realty, Granta Park, Cambridge

Project Description

BioMed Realty’s development comprises 94,000 sq.ft. of new office accommodation over three storeys located in the heart of Cambridge’s Granta Park Estate. Rated BREEAM “Very Good”.

The building features a dramatic top-lit central atrium space arranged at the heart of the floorplates. It affords the client, a leading international biotechnology company, to operate in exemplar facilities in a flexible environment to meet current needs, planned growth and evolving working patterns, including future proofing for laboratory uses. Aukett Swanke’s design embodies quality, simplicity and elegance, which enabled rapid construction to meet the proposed occupation date.

Specific Project Challenges

The façade design needed to be optimised so that the building could capture heat in the winter, minimise heat gain in the summer and maximise the use of natural daylight.

The south-facing elevation, therefore, required a dynamic screen, acting as a brise soleil, maximising daylight opportunities and simultaneously avoiding excessive solar heat gain in the building interior.

Solutions Offered

Ash & Lacy provided a bespoke two-step facade solution, using 3mm natural silver anodised aluminium to meet both the aesthetic and practical requirements at BioMed Realty.

South elevation panels were rectangular perforated and mounted on a frame in front of the glazed curtain wall to form the dynamic screen.

North, East and West elevation panels consisted of matching solid castellated panels with an embossed pattern matching the dynamic screen panels.