Imperial College Bone Laboratories

Elementa have been involved with a number of feasibility studies considering the extension and remodelling of the Bone Building. The Bone Building is a Victorian structure tightly bounded on all sides by other buildings on Imperial College South Kensington site.

From these studies the University’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering decided to convert a number of IT rooms into general research and teaching laboratory space providing 4 large laboratories which provided an additional 29 fume cupboards to the facility plus write up spaces for which we undertook full MEP design services.

The site is bounded by the Royal College of Music and close to the Royal Albert Hall so acoustic and plant screening considerations are foremost. Key to the design is to locate new plant amongst extensive existing plant in a manor which minimised disruption to other labs and the business operation of the site.

As ventilation is the largest energy consuming element of the scheme Elementa proposed a full variable air volume air handing solution with heat recovery (to turn down air volumes and therefore heating/cooling loads in periods of reduced in use). The nature of the existing building has necessitated a large amount of surveying with Elementa arranging a services measured survey and specialist validation of existing system connection points.