We were appointed by Nottingham Trent University to provide architectural services for the refurbishment of the 2-storey T-Block within the Erasmus Darwin building at the Clifton Campus. The goal was to convert the existing teaching spaces into specialised facilities, supporting the University’s commitment to cutting-edge medical technologies research and development.
The new Centre will house state-of-the-art PCL2 (Containment Level 2) laboratories, facilitating a broad spectrum of bioscience and medical research with a focus on cell culture tissue. Each floor will feature 56 fixed laboratory benches, additional support lab space, and specialist equipment, accommodating six staff members per floor, with a total capacity of 124 users throughout the building.
From the project outset, we engaged in early discussions with key end users and the broader design team to establish a comprehensive Specification Briefing document that formed the key end users’ requirements. This process ensured that all requirements aligned with British Standards, HSE guidelines, HBN, and Health, Safety, and Welfare regulations. The final design brief was approved by the end users, and we obtained planning approval early on, without any conditions to discharge, despite the tight timeline.
Two key challenges of the project were achieving negative pressure and air-tightness of 6 within an existing building, all while adhering to a tight budget. Collaborating closely with M&E engineers, we developed a cost-effective strategy to meet these criteria and eliminate any abortive works on site.
Given the constraints of the existing roof voids, the plant and equipment were carefully designed to fit within the available space. Using Revit software, we designed the project, undertook some elements of clash detection, and facilitated workshops to resolve any issues before construction began.
