Tilbury Douglas completes sealed CL3 robotic lab at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Tilbury Douglas has completed the Liverpool Accelerate Laboratory at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), a sealed, prefabricated containment level three facility that the contractor said is the UK's first automated category three infection research laboratory.

The scheme was delivered over a nine-month programme inside LSTM's live laboratory environment, Tilbury Douglas said in its announcement on 7 October. The facility was developed for LSTM and the LSTM-led Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON).

The laboratory is built as a fully sealed, self-contained modular structure, which the contractor described as a box within a box. It incorporates security-rated steel panels, specialist ventilation systems, autoclaves, sealed service pendants and gas-tight dampers.

Kabir Salihi, Regional Director – North West at Tilbury Douglas, said: "Its combination of high-containment infrastructure, complex building services, robotics and AI demanded exceptional technical expertise and close collaboration throughout."

The building services

According to Tilbury Douglas, the lab environment operates at up to 30 air changes per hour and was validated through positive and negative pressure testing.

The contractor's engineering team led the mechanical and electrical design management during preconstruction, and advised on buildability, value engineering, programming and specialist procurement.

The project team included architect Ellis Williams, engineer Steven Hunt Associates and iiCON's robotics specialists, Tilbury Douglas said. HighRes Biosolutions was selected as automation partner for the laboratory, according to an earlier iiCON announcement, which noted the facility was formerly known as the Liverpool Robotic Infection Research Laboratory.

iiCON said the CL3 laboratory is fitted with liquid handling systems, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), and that it meets Schedule Five biohazard security requirements. LSTM said the steel-clad facility responds to forthcoming changes in the Terrorism Act, making it a UK biosecurity asset.

Funding

The facility received £10m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, alongside funding from Research England's Expanding Excellence in England fund and the Wolfson Foundation, Tilbury Douglas said. The wider £20m facility is forecast to attract a further £40m of investment during its first three years.

LSTM said the lab is open to businesses of all sizes and will particularly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups developing drugs and vaccines. Scientists will use automated technology to work with pathogens such as salmonella and TB, according to LSTM.

iiCON said the facility will offer organoid models including liver, lung, tonsillar and skin, and that the technology supports the UK Government's £75m national roadmap to move away from animal testing.

Professor Janet Hemingway, Founding Director of iiCON, said: "Research using human organoids is at the cutting-edge of infection R&D – moving drug discovery away from animal testing".

Background

Tilbury Douglas announced its appointment to deliver the high containment level three laboratories at LSTM on 14 July 2025. At that time it described the £20m programme as funded by UKRI's Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund and the Wolfson Foundation, and Martin Horne was quoted as the contractor's Regional Director – North West.

The project followed Tilbury Douglas's completion of the Human Challenge facility in the same LSTM building. LSTM has described that facility as the largest academic inpatient isolation facility in the UK.

Professor Giancarlo Biagini, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at LSTM, said the laboratory builds on years of organoid research at LSTM and partner organisations.

What happens next

Tilbury Douglas said the laboratory has now launched and is expected to become fully operational in 2027. LSTM announced its official opening on 7 September 2026 and said it is due to open fully in 2027.

LSTM said the lab will generate £40m of investment in its first three years.