Pears Building, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation

The Pears Building by Hopkins Architects is a world-class immunology research and treatment centre built for University College London. With only 5 similar specialist immunology centres in the world (and the only one outside of the US), the Pears Building offers world-class expertise to patients. The Pears Building provides offices, multiple research wings to house over 200 researchers and a 35-bed patient hospital for outpatients or visiting academics.

At the centre of the building is a large atrium with joins the wider building and its office space to the public-facing café and entrance area. Vast, open windows flood interiors with huge amounts of natural light creating a soothing, and uncluttered feeling. Materials selected for the building were done for their sustainable credentials, ease of maintenance, durability, and cost.

The Pears Building was designed to avoid becoming a “monolithic” structure and sits well within the local area. During its construction efforts were made to retain as many existing trees on the site as possible to ensure the village-esque feeling of Hampstead is uninterrupted. As expected with forward-thinking institutions, the architects endeavoured to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating, which it easily achieved with its holistic approach to sustainability.

The Pears building uses Freshfield Lanes First Quality Multi in its construction and has been commended for numerous awards and won the Public Buildings award at the Construction News Awards.