How does a clinical trials unit that engages with the general public connect a hospital department to a research laboratory? The new Quadram Institute designed by NBBJ helps bring these very different environments together and blurs the boundaries of traditional healthcare and research design.

Hospitals are extremely busy, efficient organisations dealing with large volumes of patients, while research laboratories run at a different pace; their competitiveness is fought out in research journals and academic conferences. This contrast has a direct impact on the very distinct spaces needed to facilitate the respective work streams. Putting these groups in such close proximity is challenging but can lead to novel cross-over and connections if done correctly. 

The challenge for the integrated science institutes of the future is to make the different activities work in a co‐ordinated, holistic fashion. 

Creating new interfaces 

The Quadram Institute is a partnership between the former Institute of Food Research (IFR), the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and the University of East Anglia (UEA), and will deliver new clinical therapies and derive commercial value through foods with functional health benefits. The Quadram Institute also holds the largest colorectal surgery and gastrointestinal endoscopy unit in Europe. 

The building has been designed to enhance the collaborative approach of the Norwich Research Park campus and attract world-class bio-scientists and research clinicians who are motivated by its ambition and capabilities.The building comprises contemporary and purpose-designed accommodation to house 400 research scientists, clinicians, support staff and clinical trial participants, and treat approximately 40,000 outpatients each year within the endoscopy clinic. 

It will conduct bench-to-bedside research, bringing together fundamental and clinical research, clinical interventions, patient care and related commercial activity. 

Setting up a ‘new home’, developing a shared vision 

The catalyst that set about this new union was a shared need to resolve constraints imposed by existing accommodation: 

• the IFR had an aged building at the end of its working life and needed new premises, and to reconfigure in line with the demands of new research techniques, technologies and standards;
• the UEA and NNUH had clinical trial space disjointed around the park and wanted to join it up into a better purpose-built service; and
• the NNUH had a growing bowel screening programme, which needed more space to scale up and was unable to accommodate this within its current facilities. 

These needs, combined with existing working relations, united the three organisations, revealing a centralised opportunity based on joint demand and joint benefit. Together, they were able to unlock funding and bring about this new shared vision. 

The client brief set out a number of key goals for the project, with the end product delivering a building that is a ‘home’ for scientists, clinicians and visitors – while being functional, connecting the campus, and giving staff a sense of identity and pride. Developing a new home that fulfilled three distinctive functional requirements for three different communities, and accommodating the diverse needs of these groups in a consistent, integrated design, presented a challenge.

The Quadram team worked with 50-60 client-side users during design and construction, made up of PhD students, researchers, laboratory managers, clinicians, nursing staff and senior managers. The team also took part in wider engagement with neighbouring institutes and the local public and construction community. Site tours were very popular during construction with more than 200 visitors from staff, students, prospective recruits, funders, donors and organisation trustees.

The concept design stages were interactive and consultative, comprising a series of design workshops, meetings and presentations to users and the wider stakeholder groups to discuss aesthetic, operational, technical and security details. This process was essential in identifying common ground as the three organisations, although familiar with each other, had not operated together before and, understandably, did not wish to compromise on the core functions of each space. There was a strong desire for each to retain their own identity within the building, to work independently, while also looking for opportunities to intersect.

“One building, one door”

The success of the process relied on well-informed individuals within each of the user groups to be able to translate their existing methodologies into a new design, working alongside NBBJ’s clinical and laboratory planners to develop a clear concept. One entry point brings everyone together while showcasing the different partners in the building, related but separate. Patients, staff and visitors are able to ‘read the building’ and further understand the reasons why the three institutions are together:

• The hospital has an opportunity to access the latest facilities and connect with the research, leading to new clinical benefits. Patients understand that the research is ongoing and evolving, and the importance of the clinical trials. 
• Scientists are reminded of the importance of their research studies, and are able to connect with the sections of society that their findings will benefit.
• The clinical trials units become the nexus of this whole building. Evidence gathered in the laboratory converges with clinicians, fresh from their daily lists downstairs in endoscopy.

Together, they will shape and design experimental trials and start to gain a much deeper understanding of what’s going on in the body, and why. This will lead directly to new therapies, cures, advice and products.

Collaboration and connectivity 

The Quadram Institute is designed to foster collaboration between disciplines while maintaining the hierarchy of public to private space for users where required. Several elements were paramount in delivering a building that would encourage and stimulate collaboration. Casual space encourages impromptu discussion and leads to collaboration; de-cluttered, flexible spaces encourage lean working practice, and quality shared and outdoor spaces are important to provide comfort for patients and staff alike.

Visual connections are established to link work groups and encourage cross-pollination of ideas. These occur between different levels of the building and within the floor levels themselves. The atrium plays a central role in fostering collaboration by visually connecting ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ labs, while the feature stair not only provides a physical connection between different building functions and users but also increases the potential for spontaneous meetings. 

Collaboration spaces are also dotted around the building, equipped with soft seating, cafe-style tables and large marker boards to promote discussion, with atrium-facing balconies providing space for casual meetings. 

The strength of the design relies on the fact that the different research groupsare intentionally sharing office space, while meeting rooms and other building amenities are used collectively by occupants to encourage engagement between clinicians, researchers and external UK and international collaborators. All spaces are flooded with natural light and views through the building to the exterior, with wellness for users at the heart of the design. The intention is to connect between building users directly with their environment while maintaining a level of comfort that supports their best work. Communal spaces and write-up spaces in the building open to the park-like setting and create a positive working experience for all staff and visitors.

Common areas are shared elements, which can be used by each partner on their own or together; hence, the buildinginspires inter-connection across the wider research park campus. 

Creating for the future 

With advances in medical research, science and technology moving at lightning speed, it’s critical for stakeholders to ‘future-proof’ their estate. The Quadram Institute has been designed to be flexible and adapt as research changes in years to come. This is embodied in the relationship between the office and laboratory space, and the opportunity to convert office or endoscopy space into lab areas in the future. 

Flexibility in room use is provided by standardising room sizes based on a planning grid. The design of laboratory spaces is based on a modular approach to provide flexibility in planning and use. 

Larger laboratory rooms are open-plan, with fewer partitions. They are orientated to the atrium to provide visibility from the write-up space in line with the client aspiration to ‘showcase’ the work to building occupants. The wall between laboratory and atrium incorporates significantly glazed areas to facilitate this aspiration. 

Laboratories are organised by functional activity with many rooms shared across programmes and research streams. The clear zoning and separation of laboratory and office space allows for segregation between ‘work attire’ and ‘white coat’ accommodation, in line with desired operational protocols. 

A modern research-based scientific environment should also provide a variety of study spaces to promote collaborative working among groups of varying sizes, while allowing for focused work by individuals. The building layout provides ‘neighbourhoods’, allowing research groups the freedom to foster their own identity, mixing cellular offices with open write-up ‘clusters’ and more casual gathering spaces. Glazed offices allow for a transparent, exchange-driven research environment. 

Looking ahead – next-generation research

The research from the Quadram Institute is already leaping across and benefitting wider society. As the three communities start to work together for a greater purpose in the new building, the institute will further develop this knowledge and research base using evidence-based strategies to maximise positive impacts of food on health, from early life to the extension of a healthy lifespan in old age, and to reduce the economic and societal costs of chronic diseases.

The new building is also offering biosciences graduates the opportunity to work in this multidisciplinary research environment and join a vibrant scientific community. Artist Jennie Pedley, the first artist in residence at the Quadram Institute, wishes to enable scientists and the public to explore microbial science through art, and has started a series of family workshops involving models, animations and “art smoothies”. In parallel, up to 100 screening procedures are being undertaken daily at the endoscopy unit, and the first human study involving all building partners, which aims to understand the effect of Phytin on the human gut microbiome, has already begun at the clinical trials unit.

Current research includes the upcoming PEARL study (Pregnancy and Early Life), in which expectant mothers will be monitored to help develop crucial treatments for conditions including immune defects, allergies, and infections. Facilities at the Quadram Institute are also being used for a pioneering screening programme testing for early-stage bowel cancer, and the building’s atrium has already played host to several events, including the launch of a major fundraising campaign by local cancer charity Big C. 

This exciting start to the new building’s life is symbolic of the huge potential that the institute has in its new home. Bringing diverse disciplines together under one roof will undoubtedly foster collaboration, bringing about significant benefits that will ultimately contribute to major progress in the fight against diseases such as cancer and diabetes. 

The Quadram Institute sets a benchmark for future integrated science institutes, revolutionising the way we research and apply findings. 

Authors

Nick Goodwin is programme manager at Quadram Institute. Nora Claudio Familiar is a senior associate at NBBJ.