The Blizard Building is a building in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. It houses the Blizard Institute, formerly known as the Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, part of

Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal ...

. The building is named after William Blizard, who founded the

London Hospital Medical College The London Hospital Medical College was a medical school, medical and later dental school based at the London Hospital (later Royal London Hospital) in Whitechapel, London. Founded in 1785, it was the first purpose-built medical college in Englan ...

in 1785.

History

The building was commissioned in Autumn 2000, and designed by the architect

Will Alsop William Allen Alsop (12 December 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British architect and Professor of Architecture at University for the Creative Arts's Canterbury School of Architecture. He was responsible for several distinctive and controversial ...

. Construction began in November 2003, with

AMEC Amec Foster Wheeler plc was a British multinational consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. In October 2017, it was acquired by Wood Group. It was focused on the Oil, Gas & Chemicals, ...

as the main contractor, and was completed in March 2005, at a cost of £45 million. It was officially opened in October 2005 by

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been ...

. Construction on a £2 million extension in the form of a Neuron Pod began in April 2018 and was completed in March 2019. This extension, also designed by Alsop, was one of his last works, as he died one month after construction began.

Design

The building consists of two glass-clad and steel-framed pavilions, separated by a central yard, and connected to each other by a multi-coloured glass walkway. The glass cladding of the pavilions includes some coloured panels designed by the artist

Bruce McLean Bruce McLean (born 1944) is a Scottish sculptor, performance artist and painter. McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, from 1963 to 1966. At Saint Martin ...

, depicting images inspired by molecular science. The walkway also provides access to the Neuron Pod, a free standing steel structure located at the northern end of the central yard. The pod is modelled on a nerve cell, and covered with hundred of plastic filaments, designed to look like hairs. These filaments are illuminated by

optical fibres An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

powered by projectors inside the pod. The larger, eastern pavilion contains a large, open void, allowing light natural light to reach the open-plan research laboratories located on the lower ground floor. Four, smaller, multipurpose pods of various shapes and sizes are suspended above this void. The smaller, narrower western pavilion houses the electrical and mechanical machinery required to power the building, hidden behind a zinc cladding system. The building was awarded the 2006

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

award and the 2006

Civic Trust Award The Civic Trust Awards scheme is a British awards scheme to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. It was established in 1959, and is the longest-standing built environment awards scheme in Europe. The ...

Facilities

The eastern pavilion contains the main research facilities, including the underground laboratories, as well as office spaces and study areas. The western pavilion contains the main entrance, a waiting area, a café, additional research facilities and a 400-seat lecture theatre. The Neuron Pod located in between the two pavilions is home to the Centre of the Cell, a science education centre specifically aimed at children. The centre was opened by

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

presenter

Helen Skelton Helen Elizabeth Skelton (born 19 July 1983) is an English television presenter appearing regularly on BBC1's '' Morning Live''. She co-presented the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter'' from 2008 until 2013, and since 2014 has been a presen ...

in September 2009 and was initially located in one of the smaller pods within the main research building, but was relocated upon completion of the Neuron Pod in 2019. It is the first science education centre in the world to be located within biomedical research laboratories, and is aimed at getting children from the local area interested in science and research.

In popular culture

In the third episode of the third series of the BBC crime drama '' Luther'', broadcast in 2013, the Blizard Building was used as the filming location for a scene in which DCI John Luther (

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

) meets Mary Day (

Sienna Guillory Sienna Tiggy Guillory (; born 16 March 1975) is an English actress and former model. She portrayed Jill Valentine in several entries of the '' Resident Evil'' action-horror film series. Other prominent roles include elf princess Arya Dröttning ...

References

External links

Blizard Institute website

Centre of the Cell website
{{Queen Mary University of London Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Biological research institutes in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 2005 Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Genetics in the United Kingdom Education in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Recipients of Civic Trust Awards Research institutes in London Whitechapel Will Alsop buildings