University:	Newcastle University
Department:	Northern Institute for Cancer Research
Project type:	New build
Completed:	2004
Capital cost:	£8,000,000
Floor area:	2,235m2 (net internal area)
Occupants:	125 (full time equivalent staff)
Workspaces:	Open-plan office space and laboratories

 
The Paul O'Gorman Building was developed with funding from HEFCE's Science Research Investment Fund, Cancer Research UK and a number of other charities.  The three storey L-shaped building has a central atrium and two wings, comprised of open-plan office space and flexible laboratory facilities.   The purpose of the building was to:

• Promote cross-group working and world class research
• Facilitate cultural change through interaction between occupants
• Encourage interaction with the commercial world
• Raise the profile of the Institute and University
• Help generate new streams of research income

The building is occupied by researchers, academics and administrative staff. All but one senior member of academic staff work in the open-plan areas; heads of research groups have dedicated desks and their researchers occupy ‘hot-desks’ in adjacent areas. A number of meeting rooms are provided throughout the building, together with a staff room that is also used for seminars.

Occupants of the building have developed a set of unwritten protocols for how to behave in the open-plan workspaces. The open-plan spaces are ‘library quiet’ and any conversations and telephone calls over the 30 seconds long are conducted in the adjacent corridors or laboratories.