Bond-style building gets Grade II* listing

Research centre granted Grade II listed status Credit: PA

It wouldn't look out of place in a Bond film.

But it's not the residence of Ernst Stavro Blofeld - it's the home to a cutting- edge scientific research centre.

The Schlumberger Gould Research Centre in Cambridge has just been granted Grade II* listed status.

Built in 1985 it carries out research into new oil drilling techniques, chemical processes, and geophysics.

The building was designed by British architect Sir Michael Hopkins.

Sir Michael Hopkins said he was Credit: PA Images

The building has glass-fibre fabric roof, glazed partitioning and a central meeting area in the Winter Garden.

The building, off Madingley Road, has survived remarkably intact and has been listed at Grade II* by Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch on the advice of Historic England.

Sir Michael Hopkins of Hopkins Architects said he was "thrilled" and addedthat the building's appearance more than 30 years on was a tribute toSchlumberger's continuing upkeep work.

Roger Bowdler, Director of Listing for Historic England, said the centre was an "extremely important piece of High-Tech architecture by one of the leading British architects of recent times".

Grade II* buildings are described by Historic England as particularly important buildings of more than special interest. It is the second-highest grade.