Refinery itself offers 123,000 sq. ft of lab-enabled floor space with flexibility at the heart of the repurposing. With the ability to provide future employers or ‘members’ with grade A specification office or biosafety containment Level 2 wet lab space to each floor, the building can offer everything from a single bench in a shared lab and access to business lounge write up space, to private, managed labs and office spaces. When combined with its existing sister building Waterfront, the overall development provides circa. 250,000 sq. ft of lab-enabled floor space, 13,000 sq. ft of amenity and an extensive fully accessible open green space.
The Refinery is a new landmark Life-Sciences development in West London with an emphasis on sustainability, biodiversity and integration with the local community, adjacent developments and wider city networks.
With sustainability at the forefront of every design decision, many carbon-reducing initiatives have been implemented as part of this project. The combination of new build and existing concrete structure offered the most significant carbon savings with a 30% reduction in embodied carbon over a full new build. Being all-electric, the building delivers highly energy-efficient lab-enabled floor space with a 40% reduction in carbon emissions over its original performance.
The decision to provide an amenity-rich scheme to attract new and retain existing members was also critical to the long-term sustainability of the development. Alongside the provision of circa. 200 No. cycle spaces, shower and changing facilities via a ‘cycle-in’ ramp arrangement, it was important to provide members and the local community a variety of accessible spaces to cater for their needs, including a business lounge, café/ restaurant, bookable events/ club room and roof terrace spaces and access to extensive garden areas.
The buildings height and massing has been designed to complement its sister building, Waterfront, with the building extensions seeking to re-establish connections with the local community and Riverside location, which had been lost through previous developments. The 2-storey north-east extension re-instates an active frontage onto Manbré Road, while the dynamic 6-storey south-western extension, seeks to engage with the landscaped site and embrace the views of the River Thames, in both a westerly and southerly directions.
Refinery’s massing is made up of 3 elements – a transparent amenity base or ‘plinth’, a ‘weathered’ middle floor plate layer, which draws on its former industrial heritage, with a single set-back penthouse storey on top with panoramic views to the south-west and screened plant to the north-east. This elevational segmentation has a strong contextual reference to many of the neighbouring developments, though still retaining some of the verticality of the existing façade and its sister building. The provision of flue routes and localised ventilation provision have driven many of the servicing and façade design initiatives that reflect the requirements of delivering this lab-enabled Life Science building.
This River connection has been further enhanced by dramatically lifting the whole of the landscaping by circa. 1.3m at its maximum point, to ensure both buildings are fully integrated into this development. These external improvements complete the transformation of the site and its gardens, with landforms inspired by the fluvial forms of the river. Featuring contextually relevant planting and trees that help direct views and enhance biodiversity, as does the incorporation of a green roof to the building. A seating terrace that hugs the length of the Thames Path, defines the edge of the site and provides opportunities to enjoy the river environment.
Future members will require amenity-rich collaborative environments that can support recruitment, employee and customer retention, well-being and productivity.
