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Virtual tour

In September 2003, a further 2000 square metres of new labortory and office accommodation was added to the Strangeways site. This new laboratory is called the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Research Laboratory.

The Laboratory had retained a lot of its original character but undergone a radical refurbishment programme in the last decade. In 1997 a National Lottery Charities Board grnt in Association with the Cancer Research UK was awarded to refurbish the interior of Strangeways. His phased work was opened in October 1999 by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO.

This is the largest construction project since the original Strangeways building was built in 1912 and had allowed us to more than double the number of the staff working on the Strangeways site to over 200.

The new buildings blend in with existing structures and also local residences.

In our extension, we now have :

Attractive, modern laboratories:

Including a high-throughput genotyping laboratory:

Sample storage facilities for more than 50 minus 80 degree freezers:

Modern communications and IT support:

New office accommodation:

Archiving space:

A library:

New multi-use seminar rooms:

A tea room, where people from different groups meet up, including the Christmas party:

The laboratories and offices are accessed of a single corridor on two floors which forms three sides of a square around a garden:

All the building work was careful to maintain the landscaping of the site - many of the original trees had preservation orders on them.

Staff use the garden at lunchtimes and meet up for social events such as barbeques.

About the building project

The building work was funded by a grant to the University of Cambridge from the Strategic Research Infrastructure Fund and £1.5 million from private donors. The University Estates Management and Building Services oversaw the project and worked closely with the Principal Administrator of Strangeways and his staff. Shepherd Construction were the main contractors. Despite all the building work, the Laboratory was only closed on one day when the water main was shut off.

The back of the new building

The grounds in winter

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