Named after the pioneering scientist Dame Janet Thornton, the first building of the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton is a low-carbon research facility that will serve as a model for sustainable infrastructure in science. Designed by Fielden Clegg Bradley Studio, the Thornton Building marks the first phase of the European Bioinformatics Institute’s UK campus. The timber-structured building will provide adaptable workspaces for over 200 scientists working to address global challenges in health, food security and biodiversity.
It is fitting that a place of such intellectual innovation has been shaped by likeminded architects. Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the project combines low-carbon construction with a biophilic approach to workplace design. The practice employed its in-house whole-life carbon assessment tool, FCBS Carbon, to determine the building envelope, grid, and structural system. Cross-laminated and glue-laminated timber form the frame, achieving an embodied carbon of 565 kgCO₂e/m²—approximately half that of a comparable steel and concrete structure.
Biophilic design as organizing principle
Biophilia is embedded into the organisation of the building. The three floors are arranged around a full-height atrium, daylit by a timber diagrid skylight and planted to form a lively green heart. “With its biophilic design, the Thornton Building is about more than greenery,” explains Kossy Nnachetta, Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. “It’s about connecting people with nature.” Generous glazed façades extend daylight deep into the interior and frame views towards landscaped grounds designed to increase biodiversity.
Exposed timber surfaces and natural cork flooring continue the material palette internally, reinforcing the connection between structure, finish, and the surrounding environment. The building operates on an all-electric system, with air-source heat pumps, electric water boilers, and roof-mounted photovoltaics reducing operational carbon.
Adaptable, durable, custom-designed facade
The building features a custom facade that reflects the facility’s focus on genomic research. Created by the architects together with manufacturers Proteus, it uses solid Proteus SR panels overlaid by a perforated sinusoidal outer skin in Proteus SC, to create a visually distinct wave-like profile for the building that is CWCT-compliant.
Creating sustainable spaces that encourage low-carbon lifestyles
Outdoor working areas, a café, courtyards and facilities for active, low-carbon travel—including cycle storage with showers and electric-vehicle charging—extend the workplace into the site and dissolve boundaries between 9-5 and indoors and out. The result is a research environment that is both sustainable and adaptable to the evolving needs of those using it. “We care about how people feel in and around the spaces we create,” says Nnachetta. The Thornton Building, she explains, is “about the physical and visual relationship between humans and nature.”
