Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre Phase 2
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
North west elevation
Tim Soar (website) Download Original
Hopkins' second building for Schlumberger, with ferro-cement floor decks and an air cushion roof, consisting of laboratories, offices, conference rooms together with a new reception and administration department
The design provides a new broadwalk between the car park and the existing building. A central reception space, located abreast of the broadwalk and the new accommodation on either side.
The first floor has been cantilevered over the ground floor to create an appropriate form for the two pavilions and ground floor shading. An additional strip of accommodation at first-floor level has been created for toilets, storage areas and top-lit discussion areas.
The height of the two-storey building has been minimised by lowering the ground floor 600mm below the existing car-park level and including the structural zones in the floor to ceiling height.
The requirement for a thermally efficient and lightweight transparent roof led to the adoption of foil cushions. The pavilion buildings are cooled using fan coil units to the perimeter offices and central air-handling plant for the internal spaces
Data
- Begun: Aug 1991
- Completed: Aug 1992
- Floor area: 2,402m2
- Sector: Office
- Total cost: £7.7M
- Procurement: JCT Management Contract
- Address: High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0EL, United Kingdom
Tags 
Cambridge, Campus, Cantilever, Courtyard, Laboratory, Office, Pavilion, Research building, Research laboratories, University of Cambridge, Working detail: Eaves, Working detail: Roof, Working detail: Structure
Materials
Aluminium frame, Ferro-cement, Foil, Foil cushions, Glass, Reinforced concrete, Steel
Professional Team
- Architect: Hopkins Architects
- Project architects: Alan Jones, Annabel Hollick, James Greaves, John Pringle, Tom Emerson
- Client: Schlumberger Cambridge Research
- Structural engineer: Fulcrum Consulting/ WW
- Quantity surveyor: Davis Langdon & Everest
- Services engineer: Fulcrum Consulting/ WW
- Main contractor: Team Management (Southern)
Suppliers
- Cladding: Schuco International
- Glass block panels: Bouwmag
- Foil cushion: Vector
- Paving: Empire Stone
- Roof membrane: Permanite Ltd
