UCL Institute of Neurology and Dementia Research Institute HQ

We are working with University College London’s (UCL) Institute of Neurology, the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI) and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) to create the most comprehensive, coordinated translational neuroscience research, teaching and therapy centre in the world.

The new purpose-built facility will bring together over 500 researchers and clinicians from different disciplines to tackle the global health challenges of neurological diseases, uniting research, and therapy in one building to significantly increase chances of breakthroughs in treatments and cures by bringing patients, clinicians and academics into the same space. Attending a hospital appointment can be an extremely anxious time for a patient. By inviting the public to share ground floor spaces like the café, event spaces and the garden, the environment feels welcoming and inclusive, not like a hospital at all. Inside, it’s easy for visitors to find their way around, with good lighting and intuitive routes to colour-coded departments. Designing in pockets of domestic scale space helps people living with dementia to navigate the building at their own pace. The clinical areas, laboratories, technical support spaces, write-up areas and collaboration spaces are organised around a central shared social backbone. On-floor service desks provide a communal sharing culture and allow the three institutes to share technologies, spaces, and innovative practice through co-location and collaboration. The project stands 5-storeys above ground and 3-storeys below, and consists of a comprehensive outpatient clinic, imaging suite featuring 6 clinical and research MRI scanners alongside a café, waiting areas with views out that connect researchers, clinicians, patients, and the public. There is also a 200-seat conference facility and exhibition space for international events and communications in dementia care and research, lectures, staff training and engagement activities. Above the ground floor, laboratories are designed to change between clinical, basic and data research with digital systems linked across a common network between university, hospital, and national research institute. The design for the Institute of Neurology and Dementia Research Institute HQ forms Phase 1 of a larger masterplan for the redevelopment of 256 Grays Inn Road. The Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Dementia Research Institute, along with a UCLH NHS outpatient unit, will occupy one of the three buildings on the redevelopment. Hawkins\Brown has also secured planning consent for the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Eastman Dental Clinic (plot 2) and a flexible and adaptable teaching and learning building to the rear of the site (plot 3). These buildings are being constructed alongside the Queen Square Institute of Neurology.