The Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) in Lancaster, England, is a new centre for teaching, research and collaboration at Lancaster University. The building is a joint investment by NERC / CEH and Lancaster University, currently totalling £20M. The project combines CEH and Lancaster University laboratories, developed partly by a new extension to Lancaster University’s Biological and Environmental Sciences building and partly by extensive refurbishment of areas of the existing laboratories. The development of this joint facility underpins the close integration of CEH and Lancaster University research activities and provides extensive, state-of-the-art research laboratories, fifteen glasshouses and ten walk-in controlled environment rooms. These include high-grade containment facilities for