National Graphene Institute 1.33

The National Graphene Institute is a research institute and building at the University of Manchester that is focused on the research of graphene. Construction of the building to house the institute started in 2013 and finished in 2015.InstituteThe creation of the institute, including the construction of the building, cost £61 million. Funded by the UK Government (£38m) and the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (£23m), the building is the national centre for graphene research in the UK. It provides facilities for industry and university academics to collaborate on graphene applications and the commercialisation of graphene. The building was opened on 20 March 2015 by George Osborne.BuildingThe five-story glass-fronted building provides 7,600sqm of research space. This includes 1,500 square metres (16,000 sq ft) of class 100 and class 1000 clean rooms, one of which occupies the entire lower ground floor (in order to minimise vibrations) plus laser, optical, metrology and chemical laboratories, along with offices, a seminar room and accommodation. The top floor also includes a roof terrace, which has 21 different grasses and wildflowers designed to attract urban bees and other species of pollinators. The outside of the building consists of a composite cladding, with an external stainless steel 'veil'. The building faces on to Booth Street East. Construction started in March 2013, with the building being completed in 2015.