I2SL Education Month 2026
For I2SL Education Month, the UK Chapter welcomed Steve Brown of Ramboll to share lessons from One North Quay, Europe’s largest new-build lab.
As part of I2SL: International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories Education Month, the I2SL UK Chapter put forward Steve Brown from Ramboll, who shared lessons from the delivery of One North Quay, set to become Europe’s largest new build laboratory.
Located on the Canary Wharf Estate, delivered with Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner, with KPF as the architects, this project is a powerful example of how the industry can meaningfully reduce embodied carbon through better design decisions and stronger client collaboration.
Through challenging the brief and rethinking some of the most carbon‑intensive structural elements, the project team achieved a 45% reduction in structural embodied carbon, equating to around 20,000 tCO₂e saved across the design stages. What made this session particularly valuable for Education Month was the focus on moving from aspiration to reality.
Using a Low Carbon Structure Plan, the team is live tracking embodied carbon during construction, ensuring that targets set at design stage are genuinely delivered on site. A few project facts that underline the scale of the challenge:
- 130m tall• 76,500 m² GIA
- Just under 60,000 m³ of concrete
- Europe’s largest commercial life science building
Thank you to Steve for sharing such an open and evidence‑led case study. It is exactly this kind of practical learning that helps move sustainable laboratory design forward across the industry.
