Constructed by Kier Group plc.and designed by Stanton Williams, the Sainsbury Laboratory opened in December 2010. The facility boasts capacity to accommodate up to 120 scientists studying plant development, and houses the facilities of the University Herbarium, which contains over one million pressed and dried plant specimens.
The laboratory is a 11,000 square metre facility, which sprawls over the Botanic Garden of the university. The first floor of the building houses the main working spaces. The area floods in natural light and offers panoramic views of the surrounding garden.
The front side of the building has a grand, fortified façade, which dissolves into an open balcony and public spaces. A distinguishing element of the building is its adaptable façade behind the limestone colonnade, which allows the research spaces to grow and change as per the requirements of the scientists.
The building has a central court, which is surrounded by meeting places, café facilities and study areas. The central court connects the laboratories and social places, as well as extends out into the network of pathways within the botanic garden itself.
