Second-stage Report of the Council on the construction of a new building for a Centre for the Physics of Medicine in the Department of Physics at West Cambridge

The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. A First-stage Report on the construction of a new building for a Centre for the Physics of Medicine was submitted to the Regent House on 23 November 2005 (Reporter, 2005-06, p. 176) and approved by Grace 3 of 11 January 2006. This Second-stage Report is to update the Regent House on further development of the scheme and to seek approval for construction to proceed.

2. Proposals developed up to November 2005 were for a building of 5,512 sq.m. gross internal floor area with an estimated cost of £21.8m. Identified funding is insufficient, however, to proceed with the complete scheme and so the Department now proposes to build the scheme in two phases. Phase One of the new Centre for the Physics of Medicine will be a three-storey building of 2,813 sq.m. gross internal floor area primarily comprising research laboratories, but also incorporating some office space for staff. The Centre will combine a wide range of research expertise in physics, soft condensed matters physics, biology, and medicine.

3. In accordance with the Capital Projects Procedure, a Full Case was prepared by the Department and submitted to the Planning and Resources Committee for consideration at their meeting on 24 May 2006. The Full Case was conditionally approved by the Committee and the Chairman was authorized to approve the Full Case after receiving a satisfactory risk assessment. The conditions were subsequently satisfied. It is estimated that the running costs of the new building will be £98 per square metre, based on the attribution of indirect costs, which cover such items as utilities and maintenance. These costs will be met from the additional research grant income associated with the new research programmes in the Centre.

4. Full funding for Phase One of the scheme, amounting to £12.5m, has been confirmed: £10m is being provided from the HEFCE SRIF Round 3 programme and £2.5m by the Wolfson Foundation.

5. The University previously authorized submission of an application for Detailed Planning Permission and, although the scheme will now be constructed in two phases, it is intended to proceed with an application for the complete scheme in order to support the fund-raising activities for Phase Two. The design of both phases will proceed to a stage that will enable a Planning Application to be submitted and, thereafter, the design of Phase One will continue to completion, enabling the construction of this phase to start in February 2007.

6. It is intended that further design work on the second phase will continue once further funding becomes available. It is proposed that Phase Two will have a gross internal floor area of 3,575 sq.m. comprising additional research laboratories, research space for theoreticians, offices, and social areas. Dependent on the funding that becomes available and any conditions attached, Phase Two may also provide teaching space. The current estimated cost of Phase Two is £11.75m.

7. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Old Schools Arcade. A revised site plan is shown on p. 888.

8. A further Report will be published, in due course, giving final details of Phase Two of the scheme.

9. The Council recommend:

I. That approval is confirmed for the construction of a new building at West Cambridge for the Department of Physics as proposed in this Report.

II. That the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) be authorized to accept a tender, within the available funding, for the Phase One building and all associated works in due course.

The plan of the site is available to download as a PDF:

•  Plan of the site of the proposed new Centre for the Physics of Medicine