Foster + Partners has revealed designs to connect three partly built laboratory buildings at The Oxford Science Park, creating a single research facility for the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT).
Two new atria would join the buildings and provide shared spaces for EIT’s Plant Biology Institute and Generative Biology Institute. The UK architecture practice plans to retain a substantial proportion of the existing superstructure while changing the façade and internal layout to meet the institutes’ needs.
Oxford City Council approved the original scheme in 2023. Scott Brownrigg, the architecture practice behind that design, planned three separate laboratory and office buildings for science and technology companies. Construction began before EIT acquired the site and sought to adapt the scheme for its research programme.
Foster + Partners proposes an atrium between each pair of buildings. Together, the links would allow the three blocks to function as one facility and provide an entrance to each institute.
Joining the buildings would increase their overall massing. The atria are set back from the front and rear elevations to limit how much larger the building appears. EIT’s consultation material says the proposed ridge height would increase by less than one metre.
Auditoriums, shared spaces and a rooftop greenhouse
The western atrium would contain meeting rooms, seminar spaces, a café and a 175-seat auditorium, with walkways linking the buildings at every level. The eastern atrium is planned with stepped terraces, collaborative workspaces and a 250-seat auditorium.
The glazed atria would bring daylight into the shared spaces and mark the entrances to the two institutes. Taller solid chimneys and recesses would break up the façade length. The revised exterior is also intended to improve daylight and views from inside the buildings.
At roof level, a greenhouse would form a prominent feature of the Plant Biology Institute. Laboratory and support spaces are being arranged around the two institutes’ specialist requirements, with flexible layouts for their longer-term use.
EIT says the design aims to retain as much of the existing structure as possible. The proposal targets BREEAM Excellent and plans to supply heating and cooling from fossil fuel-free sources.
Images: Courtesy of Foster + Partners