Boulby Underground Science Laboratory

Clean Room Construction (CRC) has completed a concept HVAC design for a dark matter cleanroom which will be located in the UK’s only deep underground science facility at the Boulby Underground Laboratory in North Yorkshire.

The cleanroom will be located 1,100m (1.1km) underground at Boulby Mine, between Saltburn and Whitby. This working polyhalite and salt mine, which is operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) with the support of the Boulby Mine operators ICL UK, is the deepest mine in Britain.

Boulby is one of only a few facilities in the world suitable for hosting ultra-low background and deep underground science projects. Special scientific experiments and research can be carried out here almost entirely free of interference from natural background radiation.

CRC’s unique concept design included an assessment of heat gains from mined rock face and possible options to overcome these heat gains. CRC was contracted to carry out the concept design, which also included Revit 3D modelling, due to our experience on other complex projects for RAL Space – the world-leading space industry research centre in Oxfordshire. RAL Space is the space department of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Contract value: £25,000