Heatherwick in medical sphere with installation

Thomas Heatherwick Studio has created a structure comprising 150 000 glass spheres suspended on fine stainless steel wire for the new London headquarters of bio-medical research charity the Wellcome Trust, which opened last week.

Scaling a 30m-high vertical void in the Hopkins Architects-designed building in Euston Road, the installation will ‘glow with constantly shifting colours’.

The Wellcome Trust has also announced plans for a £20m public space to showcase the interaction of science and the arts.

Scheduled to open in late 2006 at the charity’s previous Euston Road headquarters, the space is also designed by Hopkins Architects and will include a café, bookshop, conference centre and temporary exhibition areas.