The Ministry of Defence (MoD) required a new facility to re-locate their scientific community and to provide them with the best possible working environments. This move will centralise key departments within the MOD into one consolidated Hub facility, and move the staff away from older, more costly buildings into new and state-of-the-art provision. 

Once complete, facilities within the Hub will include: specialist laboratories (including hazardous materials laboratories), complex clean rooms, workshops, forward-thinking staff offices, collaborative meeting and breakout spaces, conference rooms, teaching and learning spaces, a skills academy and apprentice training areas.

The specialist laboratory requirements in the Hub were numerous and highly varied, requiring significant stakeholder engagement for very complex facilities. The design which followed required considerable coordination between stakeholders and design disciplines, in particular Building Services.  

In addition catering facilities, a gymnasium and retail provision has been incorporated into our designs to provide an additional revenue stream for the client. 

Central to the main atrium is an exhibition museum, designed to take visitors through an interactive historical journey of specific scientific developments through the 20th Century through to modern times. The design team worked with a specialist a exhibition designer to coordinate the interactive museum, creating journeys through the exhibits. 

Our designs follow Defence Research Environment Assessment Method (DREAM) standard, which is the Defence specific equivalent of BREEAM, and aspires to achieve a WELL ‘Gold’ accreditation. Certain aspects, including the offices and learning wing, are being designed to DREAM ‘Outstanding’, and incorporate Low Zero Carbon technology.