South Oxfordshire, England

General Fusion’s fusion demonstration facility at Culham Science Centre in South Oxfordshire, UK, has received planning permission, making AL_A one step closer to realizing their design for the first magnetized target fusion facility in the world.

Canadian energy firm General Fusion wants to transform how the world is energized by replicating the process that powers the sun and the stars.

Their prototype fusion facility will be the first magnetized target fusion facility in the world.

Amanda Levete and the team of AL_A is providing the creative leadership to design a first-of-its-kind facility for the FDP that is open, transparent, and inspiring.

The prototype demonstration plant is a statement of belief in a greener, better future.

It will be a building that is not only highly efficient but which captures the technological optimism of fusion to solve the energy problems of the world and projects a confident message to the public about the extraordinary potential of this technology.

The housing of the reactor will take on a symbolic form, telling the extraordinary story of the potential held within it.

An expression of its energy and its power, the building will also express a new relationship between technology and nature.

As well as state-of-the-art facilities, the building will house spaces to meet, learn and debate for a diverse audience including scientists, politicians, investors and the general public.

Daylit, naturally ventilated office spaces, workshops and laboratories are arranged in a loop around the fusion hall, allowing views into fusion and out onto nature.

The building sits within a generous, biodiverse landscape emphasizing a shift towards a symbiotic relationship between environment and industry.

The 38m high fusion hall which houses General Fusion’s magnetised target fusion machine, sits at the centre of the facility. 

A delicate, translucent fabric wraps around the cylindrical, concrete fusion hall, designed to soften the building’s appearance, and optimise natural ventilation.

The project will achieve BREEAM excellent accreditation. 

Smart strategies include using waste heat from the fusion process to heat the building, natural ventilation to minimise cooling loads, a large green roof, and extensive PVs.

Project: Fusion Demonstration Facility at Culham Science Centre
Architects: AL_A
Client: General Fusion
Images: Courtesy of the Architects