University of Oxford Biochemistry Department

The new £49 million Biochemistry building at the University of Oxford is a distinctive 12,000 sq m facility with glass façades and coloured glass fins; bringing together 300 lecturers, researchers and students previously based in a number of separate buildings. Inside, a 400 sq m atrium with breakout spaces and specially commissioned artworks encourages collaboration between the researchers. The Biochemistry Department at Oxford University is the largest in the UK and is internationally renowned for its research in the understanding of DNA, cell growth and immunity. Previously the department's scientists have had to conduct research in outmoded buildings spread across the Science Area in the centre of Oxford. The brief for the new building was to achieve a new ethos of 'interdisciplinary working' where the exchange of ideas is promoted in a large collaborative environment.