The master plan of the Life Sciences Park features two principal axes, which are almost orthogonal to each other. The first axis comprises a North-South central pedestrianized avenue, which serves as a focal spine linking together the different components of the Life Sciences Park.
The avenue commences at the entrance to the landmark building (LS1) adjacent to the central courtyard and it extends linearly Northwards all the way up to the landscaped surface car park. The width of the avenue was designed to increase linearly Northwards so as to provide a corrected perspective view of the avenue when framed through the tunnel linking buildings LS1 and LS2. The second axis consists of a wide landscaped central plaza area extending along the East-West axis of the Park, providing unobstructed views of Wied Għollieqa Valley. The plaza width was designed to narrow from St.Julians Road to Industry Road so that it may be perceived as an extension of the Wied Għollieqa Valley.
This landscaped area consists of an organic design with hard landscaped paths undulating around soft landscaped areas featuring a wide array of indigenous trees, shrubs and vegetation, which are typical of a Mediterranean garden. Sustainable underground drainage system (SUDS) paving has also been provided within hard landscaped areas together with raised planters, seating and other urban furniture. In addition, the external architectural lighting was designed to selectively light up the building facades as well as to provide a welcoming environment within the central plaza not only during the day but also at night.
The Life Sciences Park was designed to create a high quality networking environment that will attract dynamic research & development companies and to act as a physical focal point between finance, innovation, New Technology Based Firms (NTBFs), academia, and applied research and development. This technological environment was fully-embraced within the architectural design philosophy of the buildings within the Life Sciences Park. The buildings were fitted with engineered facades consisting of metal, terrazzo and glazed rainscreen cladding mounted over a reinforced concrete structure.
The aluminium facades generally consist of areas of cobalt blue alucobond cassette-type sandwich composite aluminium panels and also other areas of seam-profiled, silver, brush-finished aluminium sheet cladding. The lower façade areas of the buildings were generally finished using speckled, white, polished plain or patterned granolithic terrazzo cladding panels. The glazed areas within the facades consist of frameless strip glazing or curtain wall glazing panels. The aluminium and terrazzo cladding panels were mounted on a concealed galvanised steel sub-structure, which was attached to an underlying reinforced concrete blockwork perimeter wall supported upon a reinforced concrete frame structure. On the other hand, the curtain wall glazing panels were mounted on aluminium mullions attached directly to the slabs of the reinforced concrete frame structure.
The inclined joints in the alucobond aluminium cladding provide the building facades with a feeling of motion, representing the dynamic development experienced, in recent years, within the bio-life sciences industry. Furthermore, the use of metal and granolithic façade cladding and curtain wall glazing was intended to represent the technological innovation associated with the industry. The seams in the seam-profiled sheet cladding were oriented vertically in building LS1 to accentuate the verticality of the landmark building. On the other hand, the seams were oriented horizontally in buildings LS2 and LS3 to accentuate the horizontality of these long low-rise buildings.
In contrast to the exterior façade design, the interior design of the LSC is generally basic since it reflects the functional nature of the laboratory and office areas in such a research facility. The extensive use of white floor and wall surfaces throughout the project was intended to provide a clean, clinical and hygienic environment to the interiors. On the other hand, contrasting coloured and textured floor and materials were used in the reception and common areas.
The design of the Life Sciences Park was based upon an integrated approach to the functional requirements and the primary objective of achieving sustainable development within the project. In this respect, the building design featured a number of green measures, which were specifically-intended to maximize the use of the structural and building materials and, at the same time, to minimize operational costs during the service lifetime of the Life Sciences Park. The central courtyard within the heart of the LSC between buildings LS1 and LS2 was designed to provide areas of sunlight and shade in the courtyard landscaped area during different times of the day, which could be utilized by the staff and visitors to the Park depending upon the season within the year.
The solar gain within the buildings was minimized by means of the use of a ventilated wall cladding system and vertical aluminium solar louvres on the East and West facades. Thermal insulation placed upon all exposed wall areas and underneath all roof screeds reduced thermal transmittance through the building envelope. The UV gain through the glazed areas was minimized by means of the use of tinted low emissivity double glazing. Furthermore, the 1 metre wide overhangs provided to the facades in the upper floors provided shade to the strip glazed windows, thereby obviating the need of providing dedicated solar louvres. Furthermore, photovoltaic (PV) panels were installed at roof level to generate renewable energy, while solar light tubes were installed within the corridor areas so as to minimize the use of artificial light within common areas of the buildings during the day.
Photography: Sean Mallia
