Materials Innovation Factory

The Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) was designed with the central mission of bringing together academic research and industry facilitating rapid scientific advancements that address real-world challenges and accelerate product development. Now supporting one of the highest concentrations of automated equipment for materials chemistry anywhere in the world, with robots that can create data at 10 times faster than the expected rate of a human.

Now home to over 200 academic researchers, including some of the world’s most decorated scientists, MIF stands as a launchpad for innovation in the heart of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter.

Positioned as a central feature of the University of Liverpool’s campus, careful curation of MIF’s design was critical to curating this dynamic scientific ecosystem. The strategic design of the building’s communal areas and circulation routes were hugely important to the success of the project’s core mission to create a collaborative innovation hub.

The large central atrium, where a flooding of natural light encourages gathering, seamlessly disperses into the subsequent configuration of office spaces, breakout areas, and highly advanced technical labs. The flexibility of both the configuration and the infrastructure to support these spaces ensures that these facilities can remain useful to immediate and future objectives.

MIF’s positive influence extends beyond its walls, actively contributing to the university and wider community. By offering site tours for design and engineering students, supporting upcycling projects for outdoor furniture, and facilitating apprenticeships, the construction of the building itself became a glowing tool for local engagement and inspiration.

Since its completion, MIF has been used as an example of best practice by Liverpool City Council to represent the vision for the development of The Knowledge Quarter and has been visited by several other universities looking to create similar facilities. Through its research contributions, sustainability initiatives, and community engagement, MIF exemplifies how a well-designed facility can inspire innovation and enrich the communities it serves.

Sustainability is fundamental to MIF’s design, which achieved BREEAM Excellent certification by implementing strategies that reduce both embodied and operational carbon. To meet the high energy demands of laboratory spaces while remaining sustainable, the facility incorporated low and zero-carbon principles, selectively used eco-friendly materials with high recycled content, and minimised volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in finishes.

Flexibility is a critical environmental consideration for science facilities, where research and equipment needs change quickly and frequently. MIF exemplifies how high-performance facilities can remain innovative and environmentally responsible through design of a highly adaptable infrastructure system and flexible interior layout, minimising future resource expenditure by significantly reducing refurbishment needs.