CONSTRUCTION company G F Tomlinson has officially started work on a pioneering £23 million project on behalf of the University of Nottingham to expand its Centre for Biomolecular Sciences. A ground-breaking event took place on 4 April to mark the beginning of the scheme that will deliver a state-of-the-art research facility to help identify new breakthroughs in the treatment and diagnosis for serious diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular, liver, bone and respiratory conditions. The 65,000 sq ft flexible research centre will be housed across five floors and will feature world-class laboratories and research space for 350 academics, researchers and PHD students, as well as bringing together experts currently located across six university sites. The new centre – which is due to open in late 2019 – will be located on the University Park Campus and will benefit from thermal insulation, rooftop plantrooms, photovoltaic panels and brise soleil sun screens. Two link bridges will also be created on the third floor to connect the new building to the existing Centre for Biomolecular Sciences (CBS) building and adjacent Boots Science building. Andy Sewards, managing director for G F Tomlinson said: “We’re proud to be working with the University of Nottingham again to deliver another flagship project to improve specialist research facilities; the research taking place at this centre will eventually lead to improving the lives of people affected by serious diseases. “We recently delivered the Advanced Manufacturing Building on the university’s Jubilee Campus and this development builds on our reputation for delivering high quality, sustainable buildings within the higher education sector. “This building’s sustainable features will help it to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, meaning that it will meet strict industry standards for eco-efficiency which will help keep running costs low and protect the environment.” The expansion marks the third phase of a development by the university to satisfy demands for Biomolecular research accommodation. Several of the research groups being housed in the new facility are: Division of Cancer and Stem Cells in the School of Medicine, the Nottingham Breast Cancer Research Group, the Cancer Pathogenesis Research Group in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, researchers from the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre, the Division of Respiratory Medicine in the School of Medicine, the Division of Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Therapies in the School of Pharmacy. The building will also house the newly created Centre for Cancer Sciences (CCS), which will take a pioneering approach to create a new centre of excellence in the detection and treatment of cancer. The project team includes Buro Four and architects Benoy.   Find out more about G F Tomlinson at www.gftomlinson.co.uk or join the conversation at @GFTomlinson.