First picture of University’s Henry Royce Institute building

12 Dec 2016

This is the first look at the £150m Manchester Building of the Henry Royce Institute - the UK’s leading centre for advanced materials research and commercialisation

Located at the heart of the University's Engineering Campus, the 16,000 square metre building will house world-leading materials scientists, state-of-the-art equipment and collaborative space for industrial and academic engagement.

Set to open in 2019, it is believed that, at 46 metres high, the Royce building will be the tallest on the University campus.

It will be located next to the Alan Turing Building on Upper Brook Street, in close proximity to the Schools of Physics and Chemistry, as well as the £61m National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the £350m Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), which is currently under construction.

The £235m Royce Institute is a hub and spoke model, with the hub at The University of Manchester and spokes at the founding partners: the universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College London, as well as the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). 

The Royce will enable the UK to grow its world-leading research and innovation base in advanced materials technology that underpins all industrial sectors.

Research and industrial collaboration at The Royce is initially focussed on nine core areas, with The University of Manchester championing four of these; Two-dimensional Materials, Materials for Demanding Environments, Nuclear Materials and Biomedical Systems and Devices. The nine-storey building, designed by architects NBBJ, will contain state of the art equipment supporting these four core areas.

The building design is intended to allow ‘Science on Show’ – areas of the building visible to engage people outside – while also providing closed, confidential spaces for commercially sensitive research. 

The University has embarked on an ambitious ten-year, £1bn masterplan to transform its campus and deliver world-class facilities for staff, students and visitors.  This includes the NGI, which opened last year, and the £60m Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), which is currently under construction. 
 
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor, said: “The Henry Royce Institute building will be a stunning addition to our campus, and will become a focal point for the UK’s research and commercialisation in advanced materials.”

Diana Hampson, Director of Estates and Facilities, said: ”This is one of our major capital projects and forms an important part of our vision for the campus and will benefit from its location, close to the NGI and GEIC.”

The Project and Cost Managers are Arcadis, and Ramboll are the Civil & Structural Engineers. Both companies also completed the NGI and are working on the GEIC, while Arup, the Building Services Engineers, are also currently working on MECD. The preferred contractors, Laing O’Rourke, are also working on GEIC.