Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus (Daresbury SIC) is a world class location for hi-tech business and leading edge science, providing a unique environment for innovation and business growth.

Home to the internationally renowned Daresbury laboratory, the Cockcroft Institute and 100 hi-tech companies, the site houses the world’s most advanced electron microscope and cutting edge computing facilities, and leads the UK contribution to designing and building advanced particle accelerators around the globe.

Harry Fairclough Construction of Warrington has a term contract with Daresbury SIC for general maintenance and also tenders for individual construction projects on the site. The company has recently won separate contracts for a new UHV Building and for the refurbishment and conversion of an existing storage area into an engineering workshop.

Both buildings are attached to S Block (a 1000 square metre magnet build and test facility) and are the first buildings to be fitted with Monodraught’s recently introduced 1000mm Diamond Dome Sunpipes.

Sunpipes were first installed on the site more than ten years ago to bring natural daylight into a number of buildings in order to improve working environments.

Commenting for Daresbury SIC, estates manager Steve Dobson says, “I experienced the benefits of naturally lit environments on previous projects, when specifying Sunpipes. We first fitted Sunpipes in corridors to introduce natural daylight into what had been dark areas illuminated by electric lights. People were really impressed with the transformation achieved by Sunpipes and we have subsequently fitted Monodraught natural daylight systems in the reception building, a basement laboratory, and electronics laboratory welfare facilities such as toilets, changing rooms and a staircase.”

The UHV Building, which houses an ultra high vacuum cleaning process for scientific equipment, is a new 15m x 30m design and build extension that is integrated with an existing 15m x 40m engineering workshop to form a full-length, lean-to extension to S Block. Due to the location of the extension, both lean-to areas required additional lighting, especially in the windowless areas formed by the external wall of S Block.

As Monodraught Sunpipes are already installed in other buildings on the site, it was decided to fit Sunpipes in the UHV Building and engineering workshop to introduce natural daylight.

Steve Dobson worked closely with Monodraught on the specification, taking into account the type of work being undertaken in the workspaces and the need to provide a comfortable, naturally lit working environment. To meet the specifications for both buildings Monodraught recommended its new 1000mm Sunpipes, and supplied and installed ten systems in each area.

Monodraught has now introduced the 1000mm model into its successful Diamond Dome range, which was designed specifically to meet the demand for higher lux levels in the UK and mainland Europe, where buildings such as retail outlets, sports centres, and warehouses etc, are increasingly being designed with ceiling heights of 12m or more.