The £40m Hub building which will house The Rosalind Franklin Institute on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus has finished construction.

The building was funded through UK Research and Innovation’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which is dedicated to creating technologies which will change the way researchers see life.

These technologies will be housed in the Hub at Harwell alongside 200 researchers, including collaborators from academia and industry.

The building started in 2018 breaking ground in May 2019 and researchers will occupy the Hub as soon as the laboratory is fitted out and installation of research equipment is completed.

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Professor James Naismith, Director of The Franklin said: “This is a building created by scientists for cutting edge research, and we are looking forward to continuing to deliver impact for the UK.

“The Hub shows that it is possible to deliver a highly functional science building that is on budget, on time, energy efficient, a record breaker in space utilisation, and visually inspiring. This achievement, despite the pandemic, is entirely to the credit of the exceptional team work of MACE, AECOM, STFC and Franklin staff.”

He added: “Our scientists coming together in the building for the first time will deliver scientific firsts impacting across the UK nations. By doing so we will honour the legacy of our namesake Rosalind Franklin and try to be worthy of bearing her name.”

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