| Napp Research Centre | |
| Native Name: | Napp Laboratories[1] |
| Map Type: | United Kingdom Cambridgeshire |
| Altitude: | 100NaN0 |
| Building Type: | Medical, microbiological and entomological research centre and manufacturing plant |
| Structural System: | Concrete curtain wall and glass block |
| Cost: | £20m |
| Address: | Unit 191, Cambridge Science Park, Milton, CB4 0GW |
| Client: | Napp |
| Owner: | Napp |
| Current Tenants: | 870 employees |
| Coordinates: | 52.236°N 0.1485°W |
| Completion Date: | April 1984[2] |
| Inauguration Date: | 1984[3] |
| Other Dimensions: | 28 acres |
| Floor Count: | 3 |
| Floor Area: | 110,000 sq ft |
| Main Contractor: | John Laing |
| Architecture Firm: | Yakeley Associates |
| Structural Engineer: | Halsall Associates |
The Napp Research Centre is a large medical research institute in the north of Cambridge, and innovative-looking and award-winning architecture; it is a Cambridge landmark.
Cambridge Science Park was established in the early 1970s. The Napp Research Centre was constructed on the park by the Napp Pharmaceutical Group, a pharmaceutical firm that manufactures analgesic, oncology and respiratory products.[4]
The site would be 28 acres, with 20 acres of land from Trinity College, Cambridge, and 8 acres of land from St John's College, Cambridge. The whole site had been promoted by Sir John Bradfield, the senior bursar of Trinity College.
The plant would be 110,000 sq ft. Napp had plants at Leavesden, Hertfordshire, and West Drayton (Cooper and Prior Laboratories), with research in Aberdeen. The company was known for the germicide Betadine (povidone-iodine), often found in British hospital theatres. The site needed an Industrial Development Certificate from the government.[5]
Napp donated £5,000 to the Milton All Saints parish church extension fund in October 1984, who needed £35,000.[6] The building is in the parish of Milton, Cambridgeshire, on the northern edge of Cambridge.
The building was designed in 1979 by the Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, and was mostly completed in 1981. Staff moved in in September 1983. It was to open in June 1983. The architect was Yakeley Associates. It was to cost £8m, but cost £20m.[7] The building was fully complete in April 1984. It had the buttress style of architecture.[8]
Turf was dug on Monday 20 October 1980, with Sir Alan Hodgkin, Master of Trinity College. Building started in January 1981.[9] It was built by Laing Management Contracting, based in Luton, to be finished by February 1983. At the time, Laing were also building the Grafton Centre. It had 102 concrete ribs of 10 metres height, each of 18 tonnes. There were three main buildings.
Barry Cahill was the project manager for the construction. The columns were made from Spanish dolomite aggregate, cast at the Atlas Works (Anglian Building Products) near Lenwade in Norfolk, now called Cemex Building Products.[10] These columns were reinforced by pre-stressing, and installed with laser techniques. The exterior had mirror-reflective double glazing, installed by a technique called structural glazing. The largest pane of glass weighed around 250kg. The roofing membrane was Sarnafil, made by Sika AG, which absorbed UV light. The reflective pool, on the south side, was also the reservoir for the fire-fighting sprinkler system.
The flooring was made by Intek of Hereford. The cooling towers were made by Heenan Marley of Worcester (now called SPX Cooling Technologies UK). Manufacturing equipment came from Bausch + Ströbel of eastern Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Glass was supplied by Wright & Offland of Wythenshawe, now Float Glass Industries.[11]
Manufacturing took place at the south and eastern ends of the building, on the first floor, with the filling line on the first floor. All of the building was air-conditioned, with manufacturing clean rooms, made by ASSAB of Tewkesbury.
Catering would be provided by Grandmet Compass Services of Dunstable.[12]
Three more buildings were added in 2007.[13] Stage D, E and F1 were added in 2012, designed by CPN Architects.[14]
The site works with Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, a UTC.
The site is directly next to the A10/A14 interchange, in South Cambridgeshire.
The manufacturing area had a visitors' gallery. There was an auditorium. Warehouse staff moved in first, in June 1983, with the others moving in September 1983. Many staff moved from Aberdeen; 25% of staff were Scottish.
The building mirrored glass caused solar glare to passing traffic in the late summer, in early September 1984. The glare had been calculated by John Laing Research & Development Ltd of Borehamwood.[25]
In June 1984 it won The Concrete Society's Award.[26]
In 1985 it was one of six British concrete buildings to be entered for a competition of the European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU); another nominated building was the Kodak Distribution Centre at Hemel Hempstead in west Hertfordshire.[27]