Design team picked for £50m Newcastle science centre job

Architect Hawkins\Brown, engineer Buro Happold and landscape architect BD Landscapes have been chosen to design a £50m science and business centre in Newcastle.

The 10,000m2 scheme for Newcastle University is part of the city’s £325m Science Central development, and comprises academic research space, a start-up business incubator space, public workshops, a digital library and learning centre and cafe.

The Living Lab is the second phase of the wider 24-acre Science Central scheme (pictured) - a science, business, residential and leisure scheme in Newcastle city centre on the site of the former Scottish & Newcastle brewery.

Sir Robert McAlpine is on site constructing the first phase of Science Central, a FaulknerBrowns-designed, mixed-use £13m building called The Core, which is due to open this autumn. The design team won an invited design competition led by the university, with advice from the RIBA.

Newcastle University said the design competition for the Living Lab called for architect-led teams to design a “distinct and recognisable building which would underpin the University’s core theme of digitally enabled urban sustainability environments”.

The Living Lab is expected to open at the beginning of the academic year in September 2017. 

Science Central is one of the UK’s largest city centre development sites and is being delivered by Newcastle Science City in conjunction with partners Newcastle University and Newcastle council.

The client team is reviewing options for the next phase of works, which could include office space and specialist research and development facilities.

The client team told Building it is “currently looking at other development opportunities [at Science Central] and seeking to engage with other investors interested in the site”.