ARCHITECT
Jestico + Whiles
‘Graphene National Institute’ is located in Manchester; known for being an investigation centre and incubator, its activity is focused on the graphene, being an international leader and pioneer in its sector.
The architect studio which was in charge of representing the institute values in its façade was Jestico + Whiles, and we can stand out two main aspects of their project.
On the one hand, the ‘clean room’ ceiling is strategically situated with an angle shape around its perimeter, so that the scientists working on the building are visible to the pedestrians. This way, an image of transparency is invoked.
On the other hand, another detail that we must emphasize, that makes the edifice a unique and special place, is the façade. It is formed by hundreds of stainless steel panels (in particular, our Mirror Black Colourtex finish). Each of these panels has thousands of perforations strategically placed in order to represent the grapheme investigation equations.
This project was finalist of the Blueprint Awards (2015) and awarded with 7 different prizes, such as: BD Education Architect of the Year Award (2013), RIBAJ Schueco Excellence Awards for Design ¬ Innovation (2015), 2015 BCI Awards – Major Building Project of the Year (2015) and 2016 RIBA National Award (2016).
