Construction permission was given to Sir Robert McAlpine for the next phase of Manchester’s Citylabs biomedical research campus. Following the successful pre-let on the Citylab 2.0 building from global diagnostics firm QIAGEN, joint venture developers Manchester Science Partnerships and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received approval for the
Whether you’ve plastered a room in your home or you’re a plasterer by trade, you’ll appreciate that this is a task that requires a fair bit of skill and dexterity to create a smooth and appropriate finish. Today though we’re fortunate enough to have the tools and materials that can
BDC 321 : Oct 2024
Construction permission was given to Sir Robert McAlpine for the next phase of Manchester’s Citylabs biomedical research campus. Following the successful pre-let on the Citylab 2.0 building from global diagnostics firm QIAGEN, joint venture developers Manchester Science Partnerships and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received approval for the next phase. “We are proud to be part of the partnership that has led to this hugely important deal for our great city, and a thrilled that our long-standing customer QIAGEN has chosen our Citylabs 2.0 for their new home as they make this significant expansion,” said Tom Renn, Managing Director of Manchester Science Partnerships. Subject to the completion of further design work and funding being secured, the partners intend to move forward with Citylabs 3.0 as soon as possible. Together, the projects will involve an investment of approximately £60 million in the heart of Manchester’s Innovation District. Citylabs 2.0 and 3.0 will be located on the corner of Oxford Road and Hathersage Road, opposite Whitworth Park, with the £30 million Citylabs 2.0 comprising 89.500 sq ft of lab and office space.The first £25 million phase of the scheme was completed by Lendlease in 2014. “With our joint venture partner, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, we are excited to progress our £60 million, 220,000 sq ft Citylabs campus extension which will enable the creation of a world-leading precision medicine campus in Manchester,” added Tom Renn. Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) is the UK’s leading provider of specialist environments and growth support to science and technology companies on their journey to business success. With campus facilities across Manchester and Cheshire, they offer incubation, laboratory, office and meeting space for businesses at all the different stages of their lifecycle, from start-up to global corporate. As a partnership business comprising key education, research and clinical organisations across the Manchester city region, MSP’s wider network connects it into initiatives across the whole of the UK, providing unrivalled access to funding, markets, talent supply and professional services.
Whether you’ve plastered a room in your home or you’re a plasterer by trade, you’ll appreciate that this is a task that requires a fair bit of skill and dexterity to create a smooth and appropriate finish. Today though we’re fortunate enough to have the tools and materials that can make achieving such results a little bit easier – particularly compared to the old lath and plaster methods which certainly proved problematic. Lath and Plaster Lath and plaster used to be the main method builders and tradespeople used to finish interior walls and ceilings up until around the 1950s. This would see wood laths (strips or boards of wood) being nailed between the joists or wall studs to create the backing of the wall with a gap between each one. This gap would then be filled by a first layer of plaster with the plasterer applying it with a board to force it to spread between the slots. After this, another layer of plaster would be applied to coat the wall, before a third and final smoothing layer would be put on and allowed to dry before the wall would get painted. The Problems As effective as this might have been for creating interior walls and ceilings, the main problems that people encountered were that this method often ended up taking a long time. What’s more, by having numerous layers of plaster, it also meant that the whole plastering process could end up being quite an expensive task. Modern Plasterboard Thankfully, we now have modern plasterboard which only a few decades ago helped revolutionise plastering and offer additional usages. As well as simply being a faster means of plastering, the range and materials we can buy now can offer aspects like additional soundproofing, insulation and an easier finish. From a trade perspective it can also therefore offer customers greater value for money, while of course meaning more jobs can be done in a shorter timescale. Final Thoughts While modern plastering is better and quicker, it’s still not something to be taken for granted. As alluded to above, it takes a skilled hand to master plastering, so a final consideration here for those looking to build or renovate a room themselves is to make sure you get the right equipment, gear and know-how first. This will help ensure you get the best results in next to no time.
