Sean Spurr
Plans to redevelop the National Institute For Medical Research into 462 new homes have been submitted to Barnet Council.
450 of the homes will be apartments spread over 19 blocks up to 9 storeys high, while the remaining 12 will be houses. They’ll also be a cafe, offices and leisure facilities. Affordable housing will be provided, but the exact levels have not yet been revealed.
The existing main building will be rebuilt, while others will be demolished to make way for new build. Hawkins Brown are the lead architect, working on behalf of the developer Barratt London.
The site is within the Green Belt, hence the majority of the site will be undeveloped. Buildings will only be created on the southern part of the site where the existing facility is located.
The houses are located at the Northernmost part of the development, allowing views from the fields beyond to step up between the low rise houses to the nine storey Cruciform building which replaces the existing Institute building of similar proportions.
Landscaping appears to have been a particular consideration of the scheme, with plans for quite dense foliage of trees, including silver birch, alongside ferns, wild grasses and flowers. The overall appearance is reminiscent of a high end forest holiday park.
