The functional layout of the Bristol University Lab building follows a common educational lab design: two wings—lab and office—with an atrium situated in between. The unique configuration of the lab wing with a slight kink is a result of the site constraints rather than an internal logic of the labs themselves. The teaching labs located along the exterior facade feature movable partitions. They can be configured to create one of the largest contiguous lab spaces in the UK. Opposite these teaching labs, support labs are positioned across the corridor.

Vertical riser shafts, which typically serve the labs and are typically located on the corridor side, are instead positioned along the exterior facade. The facade of the building is characterized by an undulating, seemingly opaque sheet of metal, with daylight filtering through metal mesh-covered windows situated between the shafts.

Within the office block, single and group offices are arranged along a central corridor, while collaborative loggias provide views overlooking the atrium, encouraging interaction and collaboration among occupants.

One notable aspect of the section is the discrepancy in the number of floors between the lab and office blocks: three lab floors are connected to four office floors, occupying the same total height. This discrepancy reflects a deliberate separation of functions to accommodate their differing spatial and technical requirements. Unlike educational labs with combined lab and office floors, this approach results in a more compact building volume.

The load-bearing structure of the building is concrete, featuring a 9-meter planning module and flat slabs measuring 37.3 centimeters thick in the lab space. The floor-to-floor height in the labs is 4.5 meters, while in the office area, it is 3.0 meters. The atrium terraces, cafe, and greenhouse situated on top are steel-framed.

The lab tract is an unusual shell-and-core where the riser shafts have migrated to the exterior and became integrated into the facade. The shell has essentially become core.

Flexible and changeable layouts are feasible within both the main lab and support lab areas. In the lab building, the air handling shafts are positioned along the outer perimeter of the floor plate, while small electrical risers line the central corridor, delineating the freely changeable areas on each side.

In contrast, the office section of the building operates as a separate entity in terms of function and building systems. It features two compact service cores towards the atrium, allowing the remainder of the shell-and-core floor plate to be theoretically free for any layout. However, in practice, a central corridor is present, flanked by single and group offices on either side.

Two buildings - a lab and an office - are connected by an atrium. Departing from a conventional diagram, the lab tract is turned inside out with the shafts relocated to the facade. The lab and the office tracts need a half-floor stair to connect the middle lab floor with the second and third office floors.

The plan diagram could function without the unconventional section, which includes three lab floors connecting to four office floors. However, this unconventional solution offers an intriguing resolution to the lab-office dilemma often encountered in laboratory buildings. Due to differences in systems and room height, labs and offices typically do not integrate well on the same floor. Placing two monofunctional buildings side by side across the atrium consumes significant site area. The section solution enhances compactness, although the widespread plan requires more land and facade perimeter.

The riser shafts on the facade evoke Richard Rogers' designs such as Lloyd's in London or the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Rogers achieved column-free trading rooms and flexible exhibition spaces by freeing up floor plates, allowing daylight and external views. In contrast, the practically windowless labs in Bristol don not offer more flexibility than the conventional lab buildings with distributed risers along the interior corridor wall.

Completed in 2013

13’500 m2 of lab and office area

Up to 200 students can use the teaching labs simultaneously. The contiguous lab space can be divided into up to 4 separate labs per floor.

Reported project cost GBP 54 Mio.

Architect: Sheppard Robson