About the new MCRC research building

The MCRC brings together world-class research into cancer biology, drug discovery and clinical trials on one site and is one of Europe’s biggest comprehensive cancer research centres. The new building will be home to 250 staff including 150 scientists whose research will focus on understanding how cancer starts, develops and progresses.  Working alongside these researchers, The Christie will relocate 100 clinical trials support staff to the second floor of the building.

The new cancer research building will cost £28.5 million. In order to fund the construction of the new state-of-the-art laboratories, MCRC partner organisations (Cancer Research UK, The Christie and The University of Manchester) have launched a joint fundraising campaign – More Tomorrows. To find out more about the More Tomorrows campaign click here.

In addition, The University of Manchester received £12.8 million funding from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF). Some of the funds – announced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in November 2012 – will go towards construction of the building and the remainder will provide funding for specialist research equipment. Click here to find out more about the UKRPIF award.

Building facts

• The new MCRC research building provides over 6,000m2 for expansion of research activity.
• It’s been designed to promote interaction between the different research groups with sharing of common resources and equipment and features:
• A tiered lecture theatre that can hold 150 people for seminars
• A foyer that can be used as exhibition space for meetings and scientific conferences
• Space for two or three groups in each laboratory, which will encourage scientific interactions
• Break-out zones on each floor for informal discussions with colleagues
• Shared write-up space for laboratory-based researchers
• The building design is subject to a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) assessment. BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the measure used to describe a building's environmental performance. The target is an ‘Excellent’ rating – one of the highest BREEAM ratings a building can achieve.
• The building design incorporates as much natural ventilation as possible – 85% of the offices and 25% of the open plan office accommodation will be naturally ventilated.
• A central lightwell has been incorporated to allow daylight to penetrate through the centre of the building and to reduce the amount of artificial lighting needed during daylight hours. The lightwell roof glazing is orientated to minimise unwanted solar gain to help reduce the associated cooling costs.
• The design of the walls, floors, windows and roof will improve on Building Regulations thermal performance requirements by 40%. The building fabric has also been designed to improve on Building Regulations air tightness requirements by 50%. These improvements will contribute to reduced energy consumption by limiting heat loss through the building fabric.
• Attenuated surface water drainage – storage that holds surface water and feeds it into the drainage system gradually –will be incorporated to reduce the risk of flooding by more effectively managing surface water runoff.
• A rainwater harvesting system will be provided to receive the rainwater runoff from roof areas, and supply recycled water to the lavatories in the building – this should supply around one-third of the water needed for flushing every year.
• Recycling waste points will be strategically located on each floor of the building within the office and write-up areas. An external store for recycling and general waste will also be provided within the service compound at the rear of the building.
• Cyclists will have a lockable, covered cycle shelter and access to showers in the building – one male and one female on every floor.