The use of concrete to ‘do the heavy lifting’ in SAHMRI has allowed other materials to shine, and in particular realise one of the most important design objectives – to allow the building to proudly and openly tell its own story.
Anoop Menon of Woods Bagot says research laboratories are typically sterile, internally focussed spaces, with the external expression very much of secondary consideration.
“We wanted to turn that idea on its head,” he says.
“We wanted people walking past this building to look up and see the researchers working inside – and hopefully be inspired.
“So, the fluidity of the building, the shapes, the transparent façade showing the internal atriums on either side… it’s all about attracting the eye and revealing and promoting what happens inside.”
While most of the concrete underpinning SAHMRI’s form and function is hidden from the eye, it does feature prominently in the ground-level internal plaza. Here, the structural concrete floor slab is finished with a 150mm topping slab, ground and polished to expose the aggregate.
The external plaza area also features a concrete slab with an acid-washed finish, while precast concrete planter boxes at the building entrance complement the surrounding forms and finishes.
The durability and strength of concrete was a key factor in its choice, particularly for the outside plaza area.
But the solidity of the concrete form, coupled with its finish, was also crucial to the overall aesthetic of the plaza level, inside and out, contrasting with the glass forms and the aluminum and steel façade.