Vision and value

Bob Champion Research and Education Building University of East Anglia

Getting a first, right from the start

The Bob Champion Research and Education Building is an exciting new chapter for the University of East Anglia and medical discoveries and treatments. In partnership with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the building brings together clinicians, academics, researchers and students, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Here, everyone can learn from each other and be inspired by what’s around them. Sited off campus, on a greenfield site, the project is a first of a kind for the University and the inaugural building on a pioneering research park.

With the Medical School needing to relocate from the nearby hospital, this was a 12-month project from planning to handover. The budget was equally challenging. Getting everything right from the start was crucial. This meant establishing a strong design vision to carry the project through at pace. From the beginning, our solution was clear on how we would organise the building: one half was set aside as a teaching wing; the other for highly specialised research. A dynamic atrium in the middle would welcome everyone in and unite the melting pot of medical minds.

Close collaboration was essential from the outset. Our urban designers worked with our architects to gain the most from the site’s masterplan for our client. Our architects and interior designers consulted with the project’s multiple stakeholders to devise the best scheme for all, meeting a range of needs including NHS standards. Before and throughout the build, we got together with the contractor and suppliers to make construction as cost effective as possible, while keeping true to the building’s vision.

RIBA National Award 2016

RICS Award 2016 (highly commended)

Education Estates Award 2015Project of the Year: Colleges & Universities

Standing amidst fields, on an embryonic research park, the building needed to convey an immediate sense of place to avoid feeling lost. The timber-clad façade, with a saw-cut roof profile, was inspired by local farm buildings. The design anchors the structure within its surroundings, while providing an aesthetic twist to the usual appearance of clinical research facilities. The pre-fabricated, modular timber cladding, brought to site and bolted on, offered a highly effective construction material and method, while safeguarding the building’s overall quality.

The interiors also required great care and attention. From day one, our architects and interior designers worked together to plan, and open up, the different inside spaces. Just like the exterior, we also wanted to make connections with the surroundings when within the building. The colour palette, inspired by the natural landscape, changes to denote the different parts of the building, providing an intuitive wayfinding system. Mustard, heather and corn-coloured upholstery fabrics complement the timber cladding and bespoke joinery in the atrium. The teaching wing continues this warm colour theme, while the clinical facilities are marked by cooler shades of greens and blues.

Dividing the structure into two core parts, with a connecting atrium, enabled us to maximise the project’s budget. We were able to pick and choose where it was best to invest, while delivering a hard-working facility that met everyone’s requirements.

The building is also smart when it comes to reducing its running costs. Recognised as a model of passive sustainable design, our solution makes the best use of natural sources of heating, cooling and ventilation, creating comfortable interior conditions for all inside.

Project: Bob Champion Research and Education BuildingLocation: Norwich, UKClient: University of East Anglia Estates Buildings Division, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust, RG Garter LtdService: Architecture, interior design, working with artists Scope: New build Value: £20m Status: Complete

Making a statement, inside and out

Research wingPlanning out and equipping three floors of high-performing facilities: The building’s clinical, functional side accommodates laboratories, a biorepository, mock hospital wards and a range of other specialist resources.

\ This bold, award-winning building embodies a new type of transformative education and will be home to translational research that will make a real difference to people’s lives\ Rebecca Wharry Associate

12monthsfrom planning to completion.

4,500sq mof clinical research and teaching space.

Creating two wings and a beating heart

The central atriumWarm and spacious: The building is organised around a sunny, south-facing courtyard, with a dramatic entrance atrium. The pattern, derived from microscopic bone structures, references the medical research taking place in the building. Inside, a café and break-out spaces bring education and research together in a social environment. Imagine the mind-boggling conversations that will now get aired and the discoveries waiting to be unearthed.

The teaching wing and officesMaximising the floor-to-ceiling space: A naturally ventilated, flexible home for a 200-seat lecture theatre, modern seminar rooms and large open-plan offices, with sweeping views across the fields of East Anglia.

Atrium timber cladding Layering the pre-fabricated, modular timber cladding with the atrium glazing brings a warmth and joy to the interior space.

Timber-clad Glazing kept to a minimum

to mitigate solar gains in highly occupied areas.

North facing roof lights

Buoyancy-driven natural ventilation chimneys

Mechanically ventilated

laboratory wing

Laboratory plant for efficient

distribution/extract

South facing PV panels

Naturally ventilated teaching wing

Making the most of your site Hawkins\Brown is a modern British architectural practice with an award-winning approach to design. We put our hearts and minds into realising your project’s potential. You’ll discover creativity, commitment and a desire to collaborate to reach the best solution.

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