Case study Citylabs 2.0

© Max Fordham

CityLabs 2.0 is a 10,000m² new life sciences diagnostic and innovation hub, centre for precision medicine, and headquarters for QIAGEN. Located in the Manchester Science Park Development, the building houses QIAGEN’s offices and laboratories focusing on DNA analysis and testing.

The building consists of six floors above ground, with the NIA split 60:40 between offices and labs. The building provides complex MEP infrastructure to support lab operations, with:

– Dedicated AHUs for cross-contamination-controlled lab clusters.

– Highly resilient electrical infrastructure, including a full electrical back-up system via two emergency generators.

– High-efficiency plantroom to guarantee an internal temperature of 20°C for analysis requirements.

– Dedicated cooling system for the in-house servers.

– Specific infrastructure for lab waste.

The brief called for a state-of-the-art building in relation to energy efficiency, lab operation support and occupant comfort, with adaptable systems that can be reconfigured easily during the life of the building. The result is a high specification of interior fit-out and holistic integration of the laboratory requirements within a modern office building. The project started on site in January 2019 and was handed over in September 2021.

← Better aligned space: case studies