London, 08 September 2021 – Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, CEO, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has officially opened the £105m Henry Royce Institute Hub Building at The University of Manchester.
The new flagship building was Project and Cost Managed by Arcadis, who provided Full Design Team services working alongside architects NBBJ, contractor Laing O’Rourke, structural engineer Ramboll and building services engineer ARUP to lead the delivery of this new world-leading facility.
Home to 400 researchers, PhD students and professional services staff, the building hosts £45 million of new state-of-the-art equipment to help drive research and innovation in advanced materials. The Royce Hub Building sits at the centre of the Institute’s national partnership with eight other leading institutions – the universities of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Liverpool, Leeds, Oxford, Sheffield, the National Nuclear Laboratory, and UKAEA – all helping to accelerate the development and commercialisation of graphene and advanced materials.
Following a tour of the building’s laboratories and meeting researchers, Dame Ottoline unveiled a plaque marking the official opening of the Royce Hub Building. The event also saw an important keynote video message from The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, who highlighted the importance of Government investment in innovation and technology translation. The Business Secretary noted that Advanced Materials & Manufacturing is a key technology family of “UK strength and opportunity”, as highlighted in the Government’s recently announced: ‘UK Innovation Strategy: Leading the future by creating it’.
The design of the nine story Royce Hub Building was driven by a vision to engage scientists, industry and the public by showcasing the Institute’s work and providing a flexible environment for world-class research. Featuring a geometric façade, the 16,000m2 Hub Building features a variety of spaces including high specification laboratories, heavy duty testing areas, offices and contemporary industry collaboration spaces.
The 10-metre-high ground floor entrance is overlooked by a mezzanine and offers views into the material testing spaces. Terraced floors provide visitors with glimpses into workspaces as they climb the distinctive staircase through a stepped, three-storey atrium. These atria house local collaboration hubs with lounge seating and views out across The University of Manchester’s campus and city beyond.
Mel Manku, UK Education, Science and Health Sector Director at Arcadis explained:
“Since 2012, we have been immersed in the University’s vision and objectives to globally lead the research and commercialisation of graphene and advanced materials. The facilities we have helped to design and deliver enable this vison to be realised. The opening of the Royce Hub is the result of a huge team effort, and the culmination of what has been a complex but exciting development over the years. This is a nationally significant project that will further enhance Manchester’s reputation and the wider Northern Powerhouse’s status as a global hub for advanced materials research.”
Professor David Knowles, Henry Royce Institute CEO added:
“The Royce Hub offers a unique combination of materials science expertise, state of the art laboratories and fantastic collaboration space. We can now start working with the whole UK community, developing the next generation of materials scientists, driving innovation with industry and engaging with the public – supporting the UK in sustainable growth and development.”
Royce’s presence in Manchester extends well beyond the new building; it also has substantial space and equipment in the Alan Turing Building along with facilities in the National Graphene Institute – also Project Managed by Arcadis – as well as the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology and at the Dalton Cumbria Facility. Soon it will also extend its reach into the new Manchester Engineering Campus Development – the MECD – which is the single largest home for engineering in any UK university.
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser at the Henry Royce Institute
