GARDEN OF INVENTION
Architect Chris Wilkinson and James Dyson design a sustainable and sleek expansion to Dyson’s top-secret research campus in the English countryside
Tucked amongst picturesque pastures just outside of England’s oldest borough is where you’ll find the future. Malmesbury, Wiltshire, is home to Dyson’s main research and development campus, where 3,500 employees, half of whom are engineers, designers and innovators, are working on the company’s next gamechanging technologies.
Dyson first descended here in the mid-1990s, when founder James Dyson tapped Wilkinsoneyre founding principal Chris Wilkinson to help develop the site. “When James and I started working on the first Dyson building, our ambition was to produce a factory that would provide the visual identity for Dyson and blend seamlessly into the Wiltshire countryside,” Wilkinson says. That same ambition dictated the design of the recent £250-million campus expansion, featuring four new buildings by the duo, including D9, a new research building where Dyson’s most covert projects are being developed.
Glazed entirely in mirrored glass to reflect the surrounding trees and grasses – and to ensure that prying eyes can’t peek inside – D9 gracefully melds with the landscape. The glazing system also serves as a high-performance heat management system, one of D9’s many sustainability features. “Dyson is renowned for the operational performance of their machines rather than relying on predicted methods of performance. The design team therefore created a bespoke set of environmental performance metrics,” Wilkinson explains. These include photovoltaic panels embedded in the roof that generate the building’s electricity, and an active chilled beam system that pulls in fresh country air. Dyson Cu-beam Duo suspended lights illuminate spaces throughout the campus. The Cu-beam Duo lights, designed by James’s eldest son, Jake Dyson, and launched last year after 10 years of R+D, offer adjustable intensity and an incredible lifespan: at peak brightness, they provide 180,000 hours of illumination.
A two-storey cafe, featuring a restored
English Electric Lightning fighter jet suspended from the ceiling; a recreational sports centre; and an energy centre comprise the other new additions. Completed in September 2016, the expanded campus now offers 129 futuristic laboratories across 56 acres of natural beauty. “From all workspaces, staff are provided with views out into the surrounding countryside, promoting a feeling of positivity and connection to their surroundings,” says Wilkinson.