Construction of Europe’s tallest and most technically sophisticated commercial lab buildings has started on site at Canary Wharf in London Docklands.

Architects KPF designed One North Quay as a 23-storey ‘vertical science campus’ that will rank as Europe’s tallest purpose-built lab space.

The 823,000 sq ft project is being delivered by principal contractor Canary Wharf Contractors, with specialist Kilnbridge on-board for the massive concrete package.

This will consist of basement and full-height concrete frame.

Up to 60% of the building will be delivered as wet laboratory space and can accommodate up to level 3 laboratory containment, an undersupplied type of space in the London life sciences sector.

Shobi Khan, CEO of CWG, said: “The vertical campus will set a new precedent in terms of scale, technology, and sustainability, and forms part of Canary Wharf’s ongoing 3.0 strategy in creating a vibrant urban mixed-use community which has 16.5 acres of green spaces and waterside living, over 350 shops, restaurants and bars as well as a growing leisure and amenities offering and a year-round events calendar.”

One North Quay aims to set a new benchmark for high-performance, energy efficient lab towers, with a low-carbon strategy implemented across the development.

This includes highly insulated and airtight building fabric, with an optimised façade focused on carbon reduction and sustainable practices.

Designed to form a stack of scientific neighbourhoods with interconnecting communal spaces, this first-of-its-kind vertical campus aims to encourage collaboration and innovation.

To help achieve this, One North Quay will comprise over 20,000 sq ft of amenities and common areas, including social and mixing spaces which will be situated throughout the spine of the building, as well as three designated ‘maker spaces’ – dedicated collaborative workspace for making, learning, exploring and sharing of ideas and innovation utilising high tech tools.