Marine Matters for Plymouth Marine Laboratory
18 October 2011
PML is delighted with the latest
addition to its West Hoe site, a purpose built Marine
Matters Centre, dedicated to furthering knowledge of the
oceans, the challenges they face and to showcasing the world class
research carried out by PML scientists.
The 250sq metres Marine
Matters Centre has been designed by Mitchell Architects for
multiple use including scientific seminars and conferences; marine
science workshops, enabling scientists from partner institutes
across the globe to come together to share their latest knowledge;
internal meetings and for the first time a public lecture
theatre.
PML's Chief Executive,
Professor Stephen de Mora, is especially excited about sharing
PML‘s passion for the marine environment with a wider audience:
“A recent survey ranked PML
at number eight in the world for its research. Much of this
research covers issues that are of public concern: the health of
the environment; climate change and its impacts on our everyday
lives; biofuels and harnessing the power of the sea for renewable
energies, are amongst the most obvious. Many members of the PML
team visit schools and give public talks but this new Marine
Matters Centre gives us the perfect facility for delivering
the latest marine science to larger groups of people and we are not
just restricting it to our own world class science; we hope that
other similar organisations will come to see it as a focal point in
Plymouth for good quality environmental scientific meetings and
events.”
The centre was brought in on
budget (£750K) and to time by Devon Contractors, with specialist
audio equipment being provided by Solutions AV to ensure high
quality presentation and external linkage remotely via the
internet. The space is highly flexible, with the tiered seating
(Audience Seating Systems) and partition walls (Brockhouse) being
retractable to allow for the best use of space for a range of
events; and direct access allowing the Marine Matters
Centre to be used outside of working hours and independently of the
main laboratory areas.
Funding for the Centre came
from PML’s own resources and a generous grant from the Kirby Laing
Foundation. As Stephen de Mora explained this is a sign of the
confidence of the PML Board and an external funder in the
Laboratory’s future:
“The marine environment is
crucial to our own existence on this planet and PML is at the
forefront of researching how and why it works and the problems it
may face. We can look back over the last decade since PML became an
independent laboratory and trace how it has stayed ahead of the
game, always aware of the issues that needed investigation and the
challenges faced by our life-giving seas – PML has remained
relevant and succeeded in a competitive market place - we are proud
of that success. The Marine Matters Centre is a natural
addition to our world class facilities, it will ensure we can
continue to bring together an interdisciplinary approach to solving
some of the most pressing challenges the oceans have faced. But
more importantly it will allow us to engage with a much broader
range of stakeholders including the wider public. This is a very
exciting development and I would like to thank everyone who has
helped in the building and funding of PML’s Marine Matters
Centre”.