PLANS have gone in for a new ‘state-of-the-art’ research and development building on the Harwell Campus.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council has applied for planning permission to build the £40m headquarters for the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

The Government-backed disease research centre will be built on land that currently houses a building known as R74, which is set to be demolished.

Built over four floors, the building will include laboratories, seminar rooms, meeting rooms, communal zones and specialist science facilities such as lasers and microscopes.

According to the plans, the external look of the building has been driven by the needs of scientists and it will be blue, green and grey.

A new 132-space car park for staff who will work at the institute will be built on the south of the campus.

It comes as Harwell looks to expand onto more of the old nuclear site with up to 1,000 homes.

Named after a X-Ray operator who was one of the key figures in discovering DNA, the Rosalind Franklin Institute will be operated by ten universities and is due to open by 2020.

It will be home to 150 researchers from industry and academia, all working to develop new techniques and tools and apply them for the first time to biological problems.

A visitor centre will also be built on the site, introducing people to the work of the laboratory.

Vale of White Horse District Council has started a consultation period on the application which will close on October 3 with a target decision date of October 26.