National property consultancy Carter Jonas has secured planning consent on behalf of the UK’s national synchrotron light source, Diamond Light Source (Diamond), to extend its presence at the Harwell Campus.
Diamond works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that is used to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines.
The company required a new facility in preparation for its upgrade called Diamond-II, which is a project that will deliver a new machine and new beamlines with a comprehensive series of upgrades to optics, detectors, sample environments, sample delivery capabilities and computing.
This new building will create space for the assembly process and storage facilities that will enable the 48-section machine at the heart of the facility to be assembled. It will also provide office and laboratory space for around 100 staff.
The new space will be located on the southern side of its iconic circular building. The 0.97ha site will accommodate assembly rooms, accessed off a central service spine, with all plants accessed from the perimeter road. It will also include offices and a variety of spaces for different staff preferences, working styles and team events.
A sunny, south-facing staff rest area will provide a balcony and a respite from work, as well as an informal touchdown and collaboration space.
Nicky Brock, Partner at Carter Jonas in Oxford, said: “We are extremely pleased to have achieved this planning consent on behalf of Diamond Light Source. This is an extremely important development, which will enable the research carried out at the Synchrotron to remain at the forefront of technology and stay competitive with comparable facilities around the world.”
Dr Richard Walker, Interim Project Director and Technical Director at Diamond Light Source, said: “Diamond Light Source has established itself as a world-class synchrotron facility enabling research by leading academic and industrial groups in physical and life sciences.
“Diamond has pioneered a model of highly efficient and uncompromised infrastructure offered as a user-focused service driven by technical and engineering innovation.
“To continue delivering the world-changing science that Diamond leads and enables, Diamond-II is a project that will deliver a new machine, new flagship beamlines, critical upgrades to several beamlines, and an extensive series of enhancements to optics, detectors, sample environments, and computing to support the capacity of the new machine.
“This will enable new applications at Diamond, including time-resolved experiments for several disciplines. The user experience will be further enhanced through access to integrated and correlative methods as well as broad application of automation in both instrumentation and analysis.
“Diamond-II will be transformative in both spatial resolution and throughput and will offer users streamlined access to enhanced instruments for life and physical sciences.”
In achieving planning success, Carter Jonas worked alongside architects and engineers at Ridge and Partners LLP.
