Image courtesy of Tony Brett
Last week a topping out ceremony was held at the BioEscalator/ Novo Nordisk Building at Old Road Campus to celebrate its final beams being laid. The building will house the Oxford BioEscalator and Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford (NNRCO) when it opens in Summer 2018.
An incredible 15,000 tons of steel work, 3,000 bolts, 5,700 tons of concrete, 423 parking spaces, and 183,000 man hours with no reportable accidents have gone into creating the building and its 2,800m2 of labspace and offices.
Elen Wade-Martins, Business Manager for the BioEscalator, and Jim Johnson, Head of the NNRCO, tightened the final bolts on the building and celebrated their vision for the future of the space.
Elen Wade-Martins and Jim Johnson at the Topping Out Ceremony. Photo by David Fleming.
Elen Wade-Martins commented: 'The BioEscalator will help early stage bioscience companies to overcome obstacles to become sustainable businesses, and enable more of the exciting medical innovation in our labs at the University to make it to the clinic.'
Jim Johnson expects: 'The new building will be a hub of innovation and collaboration where fundamental biological discoveries are made and translated towards therapeutics for the ultimate benefit of the patients we are dedicated to helping.'