Wellcome Trust Genome Campus

The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus is set in the idyllic grounds of the Hinxton Hall estate, south of Cambridge.

The original Hinxton Hall, a grade II listed building (the earliest parts of which date from 1748), was renovated by the Wellcome Trust and now forms part of the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre. Its stable block has been transformed into a superb auditorium and meeting room complex.

In 1996, new buildings were constructed for the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). The Sanger building also houses the Medical Research Council's Rosalind Franklin Centre for Genomics Research.

To accommodate new research programmes, the first phase of a major extension (the South Field Project) was completed in April 2005. New facilities include laboratories, a data centre, research support facilities and staff amenities (restaurant, gym and sports hall, and new surface and underground car parking).

Plans are to create a world-leading postgenomic research programme by bringing a greater number of academics together on the Genome Campus.

The new buildings are low rise and have been carefully designed to blend in with the landscaped surroundings. The grounds include a Wetlands Nature Reserve, with a public footpath that links the Campus with the local villages of Hinxton and Ickleton.