The King opens the Whittle Laboratory. Photo by Ian Jones.
The new Whittle Laboratory, a striking new building at the gateway to the University of Cambridge’s Cambridge West Innovation District, was officially opened on 20 July 2026 at the Frank Whittle Summit by His Majesty King Charles III. Designed and delivered by Grimshaw with Smith and Wallwork, Max Fordham, SWECO and SDC and RHP with the construction project managed by the University's Estates Division and AECOM, the laboratory is the UK’s integrated technology accelerator, a research facility that brings together researchers, students, industry partners and entrepreneurs around a shared mission: to transform the speed at which new propulsion and power technologies move from research to real-world application.
The repurposing and expansion of the original 1970s Whittle Laboratory encompasses the Bennett Innovation Lab and the UK National Centre for Propulsion and Power (NCPP). The Bennett Innovation Lab (BIL) is a pioneering facility with a mission-driven model where elite, multi-disciplinary teams use Formula 1-style rapid testing and ruthless iteration to quickly discover what works – moving breakthrough ideas from imagination to execution and massively cutting costs. The laboratory has been built around this model, bringing thinking, making and testing under one roof, activities previously dispersed across international locations, and establishes a new benchmark for research in collaboration with the University’s Department of Engineering and industry partners Siemens, Rolls Royce, Mitsubishi and Dyson. The NCPP is a unique rapid test facility that accelerates years of development into months.
“Our goal at the New Whittle Laboratory is to compress hardware development cycles from multiple years down to months. We wanted the architecture to play a functional role in this innovation process – the building as a part of the machine, actively facilitating the iterative loop of ideas, fabrication and testing that is at the heart of our mission-led approach. We are already seeing this in practice, with the flow from collaboration and thinking spaces, through to workshops and testing facilities, and back again.” Professor Robert Miller, Chair in Aerothermal Technology and Director of the Whittle Laboratory.
The design of the three-storey building is conceived as three interconnected distinct spaces, that visually and physically link the laboratory’s innovation activities. Entered from the south, through a colonnade, students, researchers and visitors are led directly into a three-storey atrium at the heart of the building. The atrium, conceived as a warm and active community space, supports informal presentations, gatherings and everyday exchange, with visual connections across offices, innovation spaces, workshops and research areas.
In this space familiar elements from the original laboratory have been reinterpreted for a new generation of researchers. The Whittle ‘Tea Table’, long associated with the laboratory’s culture of collaborative innovation, has been restored at the first level, overlooking the central atrium, while courtyard and terrace gardens support formal and informal dialogue. Cellular offices and innovation spaces, on the upper levels support deep focus work addressing the needs of researchers for uninterrupted writing and research.
New Whittle Laboratory by Hufton + Crow
“Working with the Whittle team has been a unique privilege. They challenged us to retain the spirit of their much-loved original building while delivering something bold, future-facing and unmistakably theirs. The result is a space that embodies the collaborative energy and technical excellence that defines Cambridge engineering.” Neven Sidor, Fellow, Grimshaw
Beyond the atrium are prototype fabrication workshops designed to support the teams, tools and testing equipment needed to develop ideas at speed. To the north of the building, the NCPP, housed in a triple height space, provides state-of-the-art environment for rapid innovation, testing and advancement in aerospace engineering. A removable feature window in the west façade allows large-scale machinery to be replaced and upgraded over time, while offering a visible connection between the public realm and the research taking place inside.
“It is a testament to the hard work of everyone across Estates Division, and the wider project team, that the project was completed on time and on budget, delivering a flexible building that will accelerate the groundbreaking research and collaborative and mission-focussed way of working that makes the New Whittle Laboratory special. The new building acts as a striking gateway to the Cambridge West Innovation District.” David Hills, Director, Programme Delivery, University of Cambridge Estates Division
Tea Table at the Whittle Laboratory by Hufton + Crow
Sustainability has been embedded into the project from the outset. As part of the consolidation of the University’s Department of Engineering at Cambridge West, the design uses the Energy Cost Matrix, developed by Sir David MacKay, to prioritise whole-life energy minimisation, operational efficiency and long-term adaptability. The building incorporates air-source heat pumps with future provision for connection to Cambridge West’s district energy network, rooftop solar generation, a high-performance self-shading façade that balances daylight and cooling loads, and the reuse of materials from demolition including reclaimed raised floor tiles and low-carbon steel elements. Together, these strategies support a research environment designed to advance the technologies of a net-zero future while reducing the impact of the building itself.
“The new Whittle Laboratory represents a step-change in how advanced propulsion research facilities function, rapidly compressing the journey from ideas to tested practical hardware. To realise this vision, our role has been to integrate high‑performance, low-energy engineering systems into a highly flexible building capable of supporting world‑leading experimentation while maintaining an efficient and comfortable working environment. It’s been a genuinely collaborative achievement, bringing together researchers, architects and engineers to create a facility that not only meets today’s demands, but is adaptable for the challenges of low‑carbon flight and energy in the decades ahead.” Andrew Johnson, Principal Engineer Max Fordham
“This has been a collaborative project, creating a world-class facility that will enable pioneering research and accelerate the development of transformative technologies across aviation and energy. The Whittle Laboratory's unique approach, creating rapid feedback between scientific discovery and technological innovation, will help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the aerospace sector. It has been a privilege for SDC to play a part in delivering a building that will empower such a forward-thinking approach to problem solving. Luke Norris, Project Director, SDC.
Sitting at the entrance to the Cambridge West Innovation District and at the heart of the Department of Engineering presence on the site, the design of the façade of the Whittle Laboratory, is an expression of its ambition and function. Durable, sleek metal coffered, panels reference the aero-industrial function of the laboratory, a facility that will be central to the UK’s ambitions for transformational change: closing the gap between experimentation and production - a machine for research and industry.
The formal opening of the New Whittle Laboratory marks another significant milestone in the development of the Cambridge West Innovation District, home to the University’s world-leading research in science, engineering and technology. Purpose-built for innovation and discovery, it brings together a community of the brightest minds to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.
“The project has faced many technical challenges in the delivery of a ‘one of a kind’ world leading test facility. It has been a testament to the teams’ collaboration, individual attitudes and professional working relationships that these have been overcome efficiently, maintaining a focus on the end goal. Achieving the precise tolerance requirements and successfully managing the interfaces between numerous specialists has resulted in a product we can all be proud off.” Matt McBrien, AECOM, Project Management
The atrium at the New Whittle Laboratory. Image by Hufton + Crow
DESIGN TEAM
Client: University of Cambridge’s Estates Division and Department of Engineering
Architects: Grimshaw (Design), RHP (Delivery)
Contractor: SDC
Engineering Consultants: Max Fordham (MEP, BREEAM and Acoustics) Smith & Wallwork Engineers (Civil and Structural): Roger Parker Associates (MEP delivery), Sweco (Civil and Structural delivery)
Project Management: AECOM
Cost Management: CB3
Landscape Design: Turkington Martin and Liz Lake Associates
Clerk of Works: Hickton Quality Control
Commissioning Compliance Manager: Banyards
Cambridge West Innovation District
The Cambridge West Innovation District is currently home to the University of Cambridge’s globally leading research in computer science, physics, materials science, biotechnology and engineering. Purpose built by the University of Cambridge for inter-disciplinary research and discovery our ambition is to build a community where the brightest minds, entrepreneurs and businesses are co-located to solve some the world’s most complex problems, including AI, zero carbon aviation, quantum computing and the climate crisis. With outline planning consent for four million sq ft of new space across 160 acres, the Cambridge West provides a generational opportunity to unlock innovation.
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