Unveiling the Life and Mind Building (LaMB) – a celebration of innovation

The Life and Mind Building takes centre stage

At SES, we are proud to have played a pivotal role in delivering the University of Oxford’s Life and Mind Building (LaMB) – a £200m development that is now the largest building project in the university’s history.

Designed to bring together the departments of Experimental Psychology and Biology, along with the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, LaMB provides a collaborative environment for tackling global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, mental health, and food security.

This 25,000 sq m facility is packed with highly specialised spaces, including DEFRA-standard laboratories, vibration-isolated sleep labs, flight labs, and rooftop greenhouses capable of replicating global climates. It also houses Oxford’s herbarium – one of the largest in the world- alongside lecture theatres, seminar rooms, and social spaces that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

Delivering a building of this complexity required early engagement and a fully integrated approach. Working as a joint partner with Wates under a pre-construction services agreement, SES brought its technical expertise to the forefront. from day one.

Engineering sustainably

Sustainability was a key driver. The building achieves an EPC rating of A and near Passivhaus standards thanks to advanced insulation, airtightness of 1.5m³/hr/m²@50Pa, and intelligent self-learning control systems.

SES also supported Oxford’s “continual commissioning” strategy, completing IT infrastructure early to enable system testing a year before practical completion. Post-handover, we continue to fine-tune building services to ensure optimal performance.

The scale and complexity of LaMB were unprecedented, involving 67 consultants and over 150 specialist packages. Prefabrication played a vital role, with plant rooms and service modules manufactured offsite to maintain quality and programme certainty. Despite global challenges – including the pandemic and supply chain disruptions – the team delivered the build ready for the Michaelmas term.