The Courtauld Building

A significant milestone was reached early in 2015, when we obtained planning permission for UCL’s Courtauld Building in London, for a major refurbishment and modernisation to accommodate the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) prestigious MRC Prion Unit. The Courtauld Building was constructed in 1926 as a purpose-built laboratory building and continued to service pioneering scientific research until 2007. This project brings life to a building that has been unoccupied for almost 10 years whilst uplifting the immediate area as a result. Our team created a design that provides a more efficient building, not only in terms of energy consumption but also useable collaboration and advanced research space. Challenges include logistics as the building occupies a tight city centre site on the corners of Cleveland, Foley and Riding House Street in the London Borough of Westminster. The external elements included replacing the rear 1980’s façade, the provision of a new main entrance, whilst relocating it to Cleveland Street and the renewal of the roof and 5th floor mansard roof arrangement. The removal of the existing stair cores opens up the footplate of the building creating a more flexible open plan area. Internally, accommodation was completely reconfigured to create a more open plan and efficient floorplate to better serve the research needs.