HBG Construction South East has announced it will both design and construct the new £140 million facilities which will be based at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.

HBG recently won the Building Better Healthcare contractor of the year award for its work on the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre.

HBG's Construction Manager Jim Power, said: "Nothing less than state-of-the-art facilities will do for one of the finest scientific research institutes anywhere. The new LMB will enhance the working environment and facilities for some of the world's greatest brains - the existing Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) has produced 13 Nobel science prize winners since 1958. HBG is constructing the building as a centre of scientific excellence to attract the best of the worldwide scientific community. We are incredibly proud to be building it."

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There will be a 350,000 sq ft main laboratory building and an adjacent energy centre of 50,000 sq ft, and the sustainability features include the largest underground networks of heat recovery system pipes in the UK. There will be over 780 structural piles supporting the building, which will mitigate the effects of vibration on laboratory conditions, and some of the piles will be a highly efficient and cost-effective source of energy heating and cooling. Interstitial floors between the three active floors will allow services to penetrate at the appropriate point into laboratory areas and permit control and alteration of services without intrusion into sensitive areas.

The design of the laboratory has been engineered to closely resemble the form of an 'X' chromosome and links two asymmetrical blocks with a central atrium and social circulation space. It will approximately double the size of the existing facility and serve around 400 scientists and 200 support staff.

(CD/JM)