School of Tropical Medicine Liverpool : Information

Catalyst for regeneration; Sheppard Robson’s cutting edge medical facility in Liverpool Jul 2008 Sheppard Robson has recently completed the redevelopment of the Centre for Tropical and Infectious diseases (CTID) for the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), the UKs leading specialist research centre for microbial diseases. North facing on Pembroke place, the new facility provides 7,000 square metres of laboratory, write up and office space over four floors and will bring back a significant chunk of brownfield land back into productive use. The design features a complex configuration of laboratories in glass boxes as well as internal glass walls enabling daylight to penetrate the core of the building. This allows a degree of transparency both for the building and the activities within which is markedly distinct from the original Victorian structure. Horizontal slot glazing and external aluminium fins give the building a strong horizontal emphasis which disguises the large floor to floor heights required for a scientific building. To blend the development with the existing disparate collection of buildings the façade of the 1970s Maegraith building was also glazed. Sheppard Robson partner and design director Rod MacAllister says that from the outside the project looks more like a city building with a lot of glass. “CTID will hopefully act as a catalyst to regenerate this area of Liverpool. We have given the school a contemporary design, with the labs buried in the middle, write up spaces and offices around the perimeter. The circulation around the building is in ‘race-track’ form increasing the links between staff, visitors and research” “A disused Victorian railway tunnel below ground affected where we put the structure as well as the foundations and height. Sustainability was a key concern so prefabricated and modular components were used where possible to minimise waste.” Ground breaking research on malaria vector control, as part of a £50million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be undertaken at CTID as well as other work on finding new drug combinations for tropical and infectious diseases. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine images / text from Sheppard Robson Jul 2008