September 3 2024

The University of Edinburgh has set out plans to erect a research and teaching building at the former Darwin Library on its satellite King's Building Campus.

New Darwin will see a 6,100 sqm biological research lab built by BMJ Architects as a centre for engineering biology, linked seamlessly to the existing School of Biological Sciences.

Adhering to a broader campus masterplan the reduced height addition is intended to be more sympathetic to its green belt setting, including a package of landscape improvements by Paul Hogarth Company.

This is further reflected in the earthen grey and copper tones of the replacement building, which will ground the southeastern corner of the campus with a collection of laboratories, incubator space, collaborative workspaces, and public engagement facilities.

Babak Sasan, director at BMJ Architects commented: “ ‘New Darwin’ will deliver a building of a reduced height and more appropriate scale, akin to the adjacent buildings and landscape, offering significant visual and environmental improvement to the campus, city, and surrounding areas. The design will create both a new "front door" and focal point for the school, and with physical linkages to the existing buildings, will transform this corner of the campus into a modern bioscience hub. This will foster a collaborative environment that will align with the University's vision for interdisciplinary biology and support the translation of ground-breaking discoveries and 21st-century solutions to address global challenges.”

The current Darwin Tower is scheduled for demolition later this month, part of the university’s strategy to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2040.

1 Comment

#1 Posted by Mansartarchi on 3 Sep 2024 at 13:04 PM

Why couldn't the concept plan form of this building be evolutionary rather than the sterile theory presented??

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