A new public building on the Unilever campus in Port Sunlight proposes to unite disparate research and development work groups with the public for whom they develop their products. It is intended to be a model for Global Technology Centres worldwide.

The design envisages the Reuse of existing laboratories and the construction of a new 2-storey building to house an Evaluation Centre, which brings together both Unilever Research staff and the public. Our design focuses on improving circulation, integrating the blocks and meeting future needs for flexibility.

The Evaluation Centre is treated as a public building, with a great porch and foyer, and studios and offices on the ground floor. Above, laboratories and a video-conferencing suite are laid out around two courts. It is connected back to the existing building by two enclosed bridges, which double as open meeting areas. The building employs a steel frame, precast concrete floors, sinusoidal cladding and a sedum green roof.

The existing 5-storey lab blocks were designed with a central corridor to Nuffield guidelines which was considerably altered in the recent past. The central corridor will be reinstated (with labs and offices either side), but with a new external deck overlooking the existing quadrangle creating more efficient alternative circulation. Locally the façade is to be replaced to provide access to, and amenity on, the deck as well as improving the overall environmental performance of the building.