The new institute is the fruit of the efforts of six of Britain's largest biomedical research organizations. Biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists research the problems of human health there. The architects, taking into account the interdisciplinarity of such work, designed the building both as a complex laboratory and as a space for collaboration and exchange of ideas.
The second theme of the project was the location and status of the institute in the city: next to the St. Pancras station and the British Library complex, both of them are very important and noticeable both as structures and as institutions (in particular, Eurostar trains from Paris arrive at St. Pancras, then there is this European gateway to the country). The new building demonstrates the potential of the laboratory as a public, "civil" facility, especially since its first floor is really accessible to the public. Along the long axis of the building there is a “street”, which includes an auditorium for public lectures, an exhibition space, a cafe and a training laboratory; the institute runs an extensive program of social events there.
The rest of the floors house laboratories and researchers' offices. They are grouped into four blocks, separated by a “street” and a crossing atrium. The resulting visual connections between different parts of the building and ample opportunities for casual encounters (for example, double-height recreational areas for researchers open into the atrium) should contribute to successful research work based on communication between specialists of different disciplines.
From the outside, the Francis Crick Institute looks at the same time spectacular and in the spirit of neighboring buildings: the facades clad with terracotta blocks are a reference to the brick walls around, and the dynamic roof profile (it hides the machinery necessary for laboratories) resembles the glazed roof of St. Pancras station, an outstanding monument of 19th century engineering art.
