A Collaborative Home for Marine Science
BMJ Architects designed the Scottish Oceans Institute for the University of St Andrews, creating a new interdisciplinary research facility for the study of the marine environment.
A World-Class Research Institute
The Institute brings together research interests ranging from deep oceans to coastal environments, and from people who use and interact with the sea to the biological and physical processes that make the oceans function.
Concept and Strategy
The brief called for a building that could support world-class collaborative marine science research and teaching, while giving the Institute a new identity on a site of historical importance.
The building includes a bespoke aquarium with individually temperature-controlled environments, cellular and open-plan offices, public engagement space and capacity for future flexibility and expansion. It also integrates existing buildings within a new contemporary architectural approach.
The overarching design concept brings the diverse brief together beneath a roof form inspired by waves. This reduces the visual impact of the existing Gatty Laboratory while creating an ambitious, high-quality and contextually appropriate design.
Explore the Details
“There is no better place to conduct our research, a truly world-class facility for collaboration.”
Senior Climate Scientist at the Met Office and collaborative researcher at the Scottish Oceans Institute.
Designing a zone built for collaboration
A central Collaboration Zone stitches the different functions together, creating informal and flexible opportunities for interaction. Solar shading waves around the building are formed from Corten steel, a material that naturally weathers over time and connects the building to ideas of nature, exposure and the coastal environment.
The aquaria are enclosed in cast concrete walls textured with timber board marks, contrasting with the simplicity of glazed offices and helping connect users back to the sea.
