University of Oxford's £200m life sciences building plan approved

The new building will house departments including including plant sciences and zoology

The University of Oxford has been given the go-ahead for a new £200m experimental psychology and biology research building.

The university said the Life and Mind Building, approved by the city council, will be its "largest building project".

It will feature multiple laboratories, teaching and testing spaces providing research facilities for 800 students and 1,200 researchers.

Work is expected to start in June with the building opening in September 2024.

The building will include teaching laboratories, a herbarium, greenhouses and testing environments for plants.

Its experimental psychology research space will have a variety of test and observation rooms including a sleep laboratory for volunteers ranging from babies to the elderly.

The Tinbergen Building was designed by the architect Sir Leslie Martin and completed in 1970

The building, which will overlook Oxford's historic spires, will also include a rooftop restaurant and event space.

It replaces the Tinbergen Building on South Parks Road which had to be closed and later demolished when asbestos was discovered in 2017.

The project is being financed and developed by insurance firm Legal & General.