Oxford University: Life and Mind Building

Provides lab, office and extensive collaboration space for the Experimental Psychology, Zoology and Plant Sciences departments in a 24,000m² 5-storey building. It is the largest construction project to date by the University and is designed to Passivhaus principles.

The Life and Mind Building forms the home for the departments of Experimental Psychology and Biology, encompassing the departments of Plant Sciences and Zoology, and incorporating the new Ineos Oxford Institute for microbial research.

The 24,000sqm five-storey building complex includes a single basement for high performance research and imaging facilities, plus four storeys of wet and dry teaching and research laboratories, specialist suites including sleep lab and shielded labs, offices, administration, social and collaboration space.

The high-profile project demonstrates the trust placed in us by the client, with whom we maintain a close and collaborative relationship.

From inception, we assisted the client in compiling the project brief, assessing risks and opportunities, and realising the scheme all the way through design to construction.

Complex interfaces with existing buildings were resolved by working closely with adjacent stakeholders where trust was a key component. The project provides a mix of herbarium and plant sciences space, combined with bespoke but flexible high-performance laboratories.

The building is also designed to Passiv principles and a low embodied carbon approach, making this an exemplar sustainable design.

MMC was a key strand of our approach, with the use of prefabricated riser modules, and precast ‘Twinwall’ construction to cores and precast concrete columns.

The University and JV partner combined with three academic departments, made for a complex stakeholder engagement process, but we were embedded in this from start to finish. The size and depth of skill of our multi-disciplinary team helped us provide a design including many disciplines to a tight programme.