FMJ.CO.UK QUADRAM INSTITUTE CASE STUDY
JUNE 2020 25
diet and disease, along with 100 clinicians
and support sta . It incorporates a new
Clinical Research Facility that hosts research
studies into a range of health conditions,
involving patients and volunteers. The
building also welcomes 40,000 patients each
year at the largest colorectal surgery and
gastrointestinal endoscopy unit in Europe.
ENHANCING THE WORKING
ENVIRONMENT
To design and develop the Quadram
Institute it was essential to understand
the use and governance requirements
of each organisation from the outset, so
the design team addressed the challenge
by regularly meeting key members from
each organisation. The team worked
with over 50 client-side users during
design and construction, including
researchers, laboratory managers, PhD
students, clinicians, nursing sta and
senior managers. This ensured a broad
understanding of the requirements for
each organisation, together with essential
standards and regulations. As well as coping
with Health Technical Memoranda (HTMs)
and individual requirements for each client,
the team also had to pay careful attention
to the vast amount of specialist equipment
onsite; this includes Containment Level
2 and Containment Level 3 laboratories,
which have very strict security and
operational requirements.
The concept design stages were
interactive and consultative, comprising
a series of design workshops, meetings
and presentations to users and the
wider stakeholder groups to discuss
aesthetic, operational, technical
and security details. This process was
essential in identifying common ground
as the three organisations, understandably,
did not wish to compromise on the core
functions of each space. There was a strong
desire for each to retain its own identity
within the building, to work independently,
while also looking for opportunities to
interact with one another.
The intensive briefing captured the key
challenges for the design team: creating a
welcoming environment for the public and
patients while ensuring that research work
would not conflict with patients’ positive
experience. Security and people movement
were also crucial, to ensure that the public
did not enter any restricted areas.
To tackle this problem, the team
optimised the working environment to
both improve operational functionality, and
reduce energy consumption in laboratory
spaces. By testing di erent scenarios using
Buro Happold’s Lab Analytics tool, which
analyses people flow, the team examined
which entrance layout worked best to
establish clarity and wayfinding for the
public, hospital sta , and researchers.
CULTIVATING COMMUNICATION,
COLLABORATION AND CREATIVITY
As well as finding the best layout to direct
the flow of visitors and sta through the
building, the design team used the people
flow analysis to create a building which
encourages more communication – and
therefore collaboration – among the
sta , identified as one of the Quadram
Institute’s primary goals.
Studies on workplaces and labs have
shown that several factors impact
the quality and e iciency of working
environments. These factors include the
quality of the spaces, the organisational
structure and culture, communication
patterns, types and diversity of people
employed and operational processes. So,
combining these factors and studying
them provides a powerful, holistic
assessment of the e ectiveness of the
research environment.
decisions, focused on maximising research
e ectiveness.
The team identified early on that lines
of visibility are fundamental to a building
that aims to encourage and stimulate
collaboration. Large glazed openings
provide crucial lines of sight from o ice
desks to laboratory benches and between
floors across the atrium light well. By
reducing the number of cellular o ices, the
open plan interior frees up space to create
additional breakout areas, particularly
around the atrium and link bridges. While
the open-plan scheme exists throughout
the building, the flexibility of these spaces
allows each department to break up the
space as needed.
Other design moves include the
organisation and sharing of space in formal
and informal ways. Di erent research
groups are intentionally sharing o ice
space, while meeting rooms and other
building amenities are used collectively
by occupants to encourage engagement
between clinicians, researchers and both
external UK and international collaborators.
Common areas are also shared elements,
which can be used by each partner on
their own or together; hence, the building
inspires inter-connection across the wider
research park campus. In that respect,
The intensive briefi ng
captured the key challenges
for the design team: creating a
welcoming environment for the public
and patients while ensuring that
research work would not confl ict
with patients’ positive
experience.”
Therefore, as well as
looking at the entrance layouts, the team
were also able to look at connections
and stopping points that could help to
‘engineer’ those chance meetings and
encourage people to communicate – and,
potentially, to collaborate. By increasing
the number of opportunities for these
ad hoc interactions, the environment
becomes more appealing to people, which
leads to increased productivity and quality
of outputs.
Having this analysis meant that
each client received a diverse range of
options, which they could use to refine
their strategic, design and operational