The Blizard Building is a building in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed a c ...

in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 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 Un ...

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

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

in 1785.

History

The building was commissioned in Autumn 2000, and designed by the architect Will Alsop. 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. 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, 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 in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

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 The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

award and the 2006 Civic Trust Award.

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 Te ...

presenter Helen Skelton 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 (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

) 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 Dröttningu ...

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