The 140,000 sq ft (13,000 sq m), three-storey Global Centre for Scientific Excellence will provide the company with new R&D laboratories and testing chambers. The project will be submitted for planning approval in July 2015.
The project incorporates two new-build facilities – a global healthcare technical centre of excellence, and an energy centre – and will also include refurbishment of existing facilities, including a Grade II listed monument.
It will be one of seven major R&D facilities worldwide for Reckitt Benckiser – or RB, as the company is now styled.
RB is looking to appoint a main contractor in the first quarter of 2016 and start construction in spring 2016. It already has a team of consultants in place working up the plans. These include Groma Consulting (project manager), PM Devereux (architect), Aecom (cost consultant), Capita (structural engineer), Hurleypalmerflatt (mechanical & electrical consultant) and Orbit (workspace consultant).
The scheme is currently at the concept design stage but consultants have been briefed to maximise the new building’s sustainability credentials.
Hurleypalmerflatt director Adrian Gray said that his firm’s role included providing a detailed energy strategy to minimise consumption. “With the new energy centre, we will be exploring a wide range of energy saving measures, such as options for utilising natural waste from the facility,” he said.
Pictured below are some of RB's familiar products.
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