Cyril Sweett completes new laboratory

Cyril Sweett Project Management has successfully completed the construction of the Stewart Stockman Building, the first major laboratory building to be brought on line as part of the phased redevelopment of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) campus near Weybridge in Surrey, UK.

Developed for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the new facility is a large biocontainment laboratory building valued at more than £32m, which provides the VLA scientists with the state-of-the-art technology required to further research and diagnosis capabilities in farm animal diseases. It is named after Sir Stewart Stockman, who was appointed chief veterinary officer in 1905 and was a pioneer in livestock disease research. Cyril Sweett has also been reconfirmed by Defra as the project manager for the next phases of work on the VLA site for up to a further eight years. Since commencing this appointment in 1993, the company has managed many projects for VLA at Weybridge, and is currently updating the VLA redevelopment plan of the site over the next 20 years, which includes a planned capital spend value in excess of £50m over the next three years.