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Donation Ensures Third Dose of Development

02 December 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970
 

Construction of the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children is expected to commence in January 2016 and the building will open in 2018.

Skanska will undertake the design, construction and mechanical and electrical fit-out of the research centre, which will run in partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

It has been made possible thanks to a £60 million gift made in July 2014 by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the wife of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. She is the Chairwoman of the UAE General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the UAE Family Development Foundation and President of the UAE Supreme Council of Motherhood and Childhood.

The Zayed Centre will enable clinicians and researchers to work side-by-side in advancing the understanding of rare diseases, identifying new and better treatments and manufacturing innovative medical devices.

 

Workspaces

Situated adjacent to the hospital, the new building will incorporate an outpatient department hosting clinics for children and young people with a range of rare and complex conditions. It will also house a variety of laboratories, specialist equipment rooms and workspaces where hundreds of experts will develop diagnostic procedures, manufacture gene and cell therapies and create personalised medical devices.

At street level the building is animated by views directly into the principal research laboratories on the lower ground floor. Research staff and patients share a single entrance which passes above these laboratories. Internally, extensive glazing creates strong visual connections between research and outpatient areas.

The building sits opposite Coram’s Fields, a space which has been dedicated for over 250 years to the wellbeing of children. A carefully articulated network of vertical terracotta fins gives a strong visual identity to the facades opposite Coram’s Fields, reflecting the public significance of the building.

Picture: An artist's impression of the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 02 December 2016

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