- Location
- University of Sheffield
ChELSI Project, University of Sheffield
It was crucial for us to use the disused laboratory space at the University of Sheffield creatively, to help secure the future of pioneering research in the city.
The Chemical Engineering at the Life Science Interfaces building (ChELSI ) is a new research institute at the University of Sheffield which needed a new home. To rehouse the institute, our design used largely empty multi-storey combustion laboratories within the existing Chemical and Process Engineering Department.
The unique refurbishment required new intermediate floors to be inserted, that overlook multi-height atrium spaces. A number of highly-serviced laboratory spaces, set adjacent to a flexible ‘ideas zone’, were created to accommodate the expanding research team.
The proposals have created a spatially-exciting environment which opens up the existing building and promotes the university’s aspiration for cross-disciplinary collaboration. A low-energy approach was at the heart of the developed scheme, including the introduction of an abundance of natural daylight ventilation to the existing deep-plan spaces.