Aiming to break down academic barriers, Imperial's new Institute of Biomedical Medicine will bring together several disciplines. Mark Clements takes us on a tour of the laboratories that will be the intersection of engineering and medicine

Aiming to break down academic barriers, Imperial's new Institute of Biomedical Medicine will bring together several disciplines. Mark Clements takes us on a tour of the laboratories that will be the intersection of engineering and medicine

IMPERIAL College's Institute of Biomedical Engineering was officially opened by the Queen in July this year. Housed in the completely refurbished Bessemer building, the Institute sits alongside the Nanotechnology Centre and the Bio-incubator Suite, all focused on developing technologies to advance knowledge in human health and all benefiting from a more integrated method of working.

Located on the South Kensington campus of Imperial College, the Institute of Biomedical engineering is a postgraduate research facility applying advances in technology to enable people to lead independent lives despite illnesses, ageing and disability. Its research programme is focused at the intersections between the platform technologies in science and engineering, such as systems biology, materials, imaging and nanotechnology, and medical applications, such as bionics and tissue engineering.

The Institute provides a multi-disciplinary research environment, facilitating the application of scientific and engineering knowledge and skills to challenges faced by healthcare professionals. The new Institute co-ordinates large-scale, multi-disciplinary research applying new technologies to the medical devices industry, and each research theme has been chosen for its impact on health and well-being and its interdisciplinary nature.

Within the four floor Institute, there is laboratory space not only for researchers permanently attached to the Institute, but also for other staff from Imperial, PhD scholars and visiting academics needing access to specialised facilities during specific projects. Amongst the new Institute's facilities are specialised spaces for microscopy, image analysis, micropower testing, scanning probe, biotelemetry, instrumentation, third generation biomaterials processing, hierarchical materials characterisation and biophotinics. It also incorporates a purpose built bionanotechnology centre funded by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Encouraging interaction was core to the design brief for the Institute's new home. Architects Sheppard Robson were charged with creating generic and adaptable research and office spaces in an environment conducive to this exchange. Quality of design was also a key factor, seen as a way of attracting and retaining key staff, and the total value of the project across the Institute, the Incubator and new entrance came to £16.7 million.

Imperial's Bessemer building had become dated, introverted and dingy. Designed in the 1960s to house laboratories and workshops, the building no longer met industry standards or increasingly stringent legislation.

To house the new Institute, the building was completely stripped back to its structure and its services overhauled. As part of the redesign, the floor slabs at the front of the building were extended by approximately 1 metre, and the original façade was replaced with full height glazed cladding. A new main entrance to the building was also constructed.

The Bessemer's structural grid, at some 6.6 meters wide, was appropriate for a modern laboratory building, but a major constraint was the very low floor height. At just over 3 metres, this severely restricted the installation of new and necessary services as the laboratory spaces were upgraded to ACDP Cat 2. The solution to this was to place the main extract ducts externally at the rear of the building and the supply ducts within the zone between the extended slab and new glazing. This solution brought the added benefit of reducing the impact on the interior's footprint and the net usable area.

The refurbished building now includes generic and modern laboratories, a virtual operating theatre, an ISO Class 6 clean room, micro surgery facility and simulated hospital ward, anechoic chambers and laser labs, in addition to offices and communal spaces.

Offices and laboratories are arranged around a double height top lit space with informal meeting areas, and the environment has been transformed into an open, predominantly naturally lit space visually linked by the use of bold colours. Offices and labs have designed for maximum flexibility to allow the Institute to adapt their use according to the changing requirement of research.

A fundamental principal behind the design is that it allows sufficient flexibility for future changes to be accommodated without the need for major or costly alterations. In the open and wet labs, benching and storage are fully re-locatable and modular in lengths, depths and heights to allow space to be reconfigured and adapted with ease. The high-end lab system Matrix from Byrum Labflex was used.

In the dry and general labs less flexibility is required due to the smaller and more cellular nature of the laboratories. A fixed cantilever bench system was selected - Byrum Labflex Omega 11 - with removable tops to enable future equipment installations. All shelving and under bench units are movable.

In determining its research strategy, the Institute identified a number of enabling technologies in bionics, tissue engineering, image analysis, bio-nanotechnology and informatics, which will form the basis for advances in key areas, such as personalised healthcare, regenerative medicine and biomedical imaging.

Research projects are either focused on applying state of the art engineering technologies to provide solutions for complex biological, physiological and medial problems such as prosthetics and diagnostics - or fused on deriving novel technologies based on the biological or physiological behaviour of complex systems, such as biometrics and smart sensors.

Amongst projects already underway at the Institute are personalised healthcare and wireless sensors, allowing patients to be discharged from hospital earlier than is currently possible while still receiving continuous monitoring. One potential application for this technology is the monitoring of glucose levels of diabetes patients.

The Institute's approach of breaking down barriers and bringing various disciplines together has been reflected in the design of its building. The Institute of Biomedical Engineering occupies levels three to six. Previously, laboratories had been grouped together on levels five and six near the new rooftop area. The original general arrangement of a simple single corridor layout with open plan and cellular laboratories on either side was maintained due to the restrictions imposed by the existing internal risers and also because of the relatively narrow overall floor plate. However, the ambience of the space, has been dramatically improved through the use of full height glazing in lieu of the original solid partitions, and by combining and opening small cellular spaces into larger open plan. These spaces can be expanded or contracted by adding or removing partitions on grid and as required to accommodate future requirements.

The Nanotechnology Suite occupies level three in a similar generic layout to the laboratories, while the first and second floor is the Bio Incubator suite containing two levels of generic laboratory and office suites.

Commenting on the new Institute and its facilities, Director Chris Toumazou said: "Never before has the merge between engineering and medicine been so strong, and Imperial's Institute of Biomedical Engineering is the key multidisciplinary hub which glues the two together, As seen by the brilliant pink, green and yellow colours of the building, in addition to the flat open plan structure, the Institute has adapted a unique culture of art and creativity, as well as its core engineering and medicine."

By Mark Clements. Mark is a freelance editor and writer working across press and PR. He has extensive experience at international level across human and veterinary medicine.