Aluminium fins wrap the New Science Building at University of Hertfordshire

<p>Laboratories are mostly serious and relatively dull architecrual affairs but in Sheppard Robson&rsquo;s New Science Building, at the University of Hertfordshire, louvres wrap the building in an aluminium veil that suggests intrigue and activity within.<br /><br />The 9,000m&sup2; &pound;30m New Science Building sees architecture and designing firm Sheppard Robson revisiting the laboratory format in a manner that is visually and technologically distinct from the firm&rsquo;s previous work at Bristol. Yet the new building extends the trend of high-profile laboratory architecture even further.<br /><br />As Sheppard Robson partner Tony Poole explains: &ldquo;The building had to do more than provide technically excellent and controlled spaces within a box. We wanted the architectural language to be a beacon for the university&rsquo;s ambitions, with a finely tuned and bold response that did not compromise on efficiency.&rdquo;<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/science%20building.jpg" alt="News" width="400" height="432" /><br />Each floor of the building is expressed externally as a discernible layer, neatly trimmed with a steel channel at its top and bottom, between which a continuous series of vertical fins are fixed. The fins fully encase three sides of the building with the remaining north elevation faced in concrete and glass.<br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />The fins are absolutely central to the building&rsquo;s aesthetic and environmental aspirations. Each one is a minutely perforated expanded aluminium mesh panel that acts as a rainscreen separated from the building&rsquo;s external glass envelope by an accessible maintenance gantry that wraps around the building. Consequently, the fins act as a vertical brise-soleil that provide shading to the three elevations of the building most exposed to solar glare while admitting as much daylight as possible to the interior.<br /><br />The project is the anchor for a wider campus improvement masterplan.</p>