In the first decades of the 21st century, researchers are beginning to understand in detail how our genetic inheritance makes us who we are. At the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, the aim is to extend that understanding in order to gain a clearer insight into mechanisms of health and disease. Looking across all three billion letters of the human genetic code, the researchers at the Wellcome Facility aim to pinpoint variant spellings and discover how they increase or decrease an individual’s risk of falling ill.
The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics is located on the Old Road Campus in Oxford and was constructed in 2000 and has been the subject of various fit-outs, extensions, and refurbishments since the original incarnation of the building.
With more than 400 active researchers and around 70 employed in administrative and support roles, the Centre is an international leader in genetics, genomics, and structural biology. They collaborate with research teams across the world on a number of large-scale studies in these areas.
The etch team led and designed the refurbishment project for the project within the Henry Wellcome Building at Old Road Campus in Oxford. The comprehensive refurbishment design of the existing building necessitated a great deal of care and exceptional attention to detail, particularly when considering access to the secondary laboratories that needed to be operational throughout the duration of the project.
David Behan is the project lead on the project and engaged extensively with the users and the wider design team collaborators to deliver a complex scheme. The laboratories required an extensive replacement of mechanical, electrical and public health services while ensuring that the wider building and adjacent secondary laboratories remained live.
The etch team have worked closely with the University and Departmental Estates Team to ensure that the design interventions were in-line with their demanding standards.
