Project spotlight.
Ray Dolby Centre.
CAMBRIDGE
Services provided: Acoustics, Audio Visual, Intelligent Buildings, Lighting, MEP, Security, Operational Assets, Sustainability, Vertical Transportation, Vibration
Key stakeholders: University of Cambridge
Architect: Jestico + Whiles
On the site where atoms were split, sub-atomic particles discovered, and DNA unravelled; a new state-of-the-art physics facility has been built. This is the third incarnation of the University of Cambridge’s world-renowned Cavendish Labs, which has provided the platform for 30 Nobel Prize-winning researchers. Designed to help the University continue to lead on the world stage of science and research, the Ray Dolby Centre is an uncompromising high-spec facility.
This was a technically complex, large-scale project. Many of the individual laboratories (with often conflicting requirements) are adjacent to each other, so strong collaboration between the design and client teams was required to test these opposing constraints thoroughly. We utilised our skills in creating virtual environments to articulate our design ideas to the users and made sure to bring together the whole design team to understand better the pressures and concerns of other teams. Internally, we pioneered a ‘profit-sharing’ solution for all of our disciplines, which drove a culture of shared success. It didn’t work perfectly as we butted up against conflicting internal systems, but it was still worthwhile.
Challenges.
This project took over a decade to complete, due to the Covid19 pandemic and other major global events having an impact on the flow of materials. Despite these setbacks, the whole team continued to pull together resulting in a world leading facility which the University of Cambridge are rightly proud of.
One of the biggest technical challenges was around mitigating vibration. Many of the experiments that will be conducted in the labs will be so sensitive, that nearby speed bumps in the road had to be removed and bus routes diverted. The layout of the building on the site was carefully considered such that the most sensitive labs were kept well away from roads and other sources of vibration. Perhaps one of the more interesting constraints involved orientating the building in alignment with the earth’s electromagnetic field so that any associated interference could be minimised.
From our side, there are four plant ‘towers’ located on the ends of each of the wings. Each tower is physically separated from the main labs to minimise vibration travelling down ducts and pipes. Part of the original design brief from the university in 2015 was to avoid generating space heating and hot water from fossil fuel sources. Therefore, the whole building is heated and cooled via a massive ground source heat pump array using 150m deep boreholes below the building. Not only will this reduce operational energy for the life of the building, it’s also a robust and resilient solution for the required 24/7 operation of the physics department.
Our Performance team are providing a four-year ‘soft landings’ programme. We have worked closely with the client to overcome significant challenges to date and achieve a successful design solution. This has been a great achievement for a scheme of this scale and importance for the global scientific community and we are immensely proud of the project team that delivered it. We can scarcely imagine what discoveries and innovations will emerge from this facility – all of which will have been partly enabled by Hoare Lea.
Well done to everyone who worked on this project. If you have any questions, contact , James Mackenzie-Burrows, Matt Chambers or Alex Root.
All images: Jestico + Whiles