University:	Newcastle University
Department:	Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability
Project type:	New build
Completed:	2004
Capital cost:	£19.1 million
Floor area:	3,290m2 (net internal area)
Space mix:	Open-plan office space, cellular offices and shared laboratories

The Devonshire Building was funded through HEFCE's Science Research Investment Fund and designed to accommodate Newcastle University's Institute for Research on Environment and Sustainability. Development of the building enabled the University to bring together, under one roof, individuals and research groups that had previously been dispersed across the University.

The building was designed to:

• Facilitate cultural change by encouraging collaboraton and multi-disciplinary working
• Support increases in the generation of research outputs and income
• Provide flexibility, in terms of supporting changes in the configuration of research groups
• Achieve high levels of environmental performance

The completed building is comprised of six floors and a central atrium, which opens up on either side to open-plan office accommodation. There are around 40 open-plan desk spaces on each floor, including 'hot desks'. The building also houses specialist laboratory facilities, meeting rooms and a small number of cellular offices.

Cellular offices are allocated to the heads of research groups, with other researchers occupying the open-plan workspaces and the shared laboratories. Researchers wishing to work in the building must make a business case and satisfy certain eligibility criteria, including a track-record of research excellence and a willingness to enagage with the collaborative ethos of the Institute.