Peter Rees QC And Jess Connors Advise CERN On Its New Science Gateway

Having recently advised CERN on the Design Consultancy Appointment, Peter Rees QC and Jess Connors of 39 Essex Chambers will now provide legal support to CERN on the Construction Contract for its new scientific education and outreach centre, the Science Gateway.

The building is being designed by world-renowned architects, Renzo Piano Building Workshop whose previous designs include the George Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Shard in London and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Working with the CERN in-house legal, procurement and engineering teams, Peter and Jess drafted the Consultancy Appointment between CERN and Renzo Piano Building Workshop and will start work shortly on the Construction Contract for the building.

Peter's relationship with CERN dates back 25 years when he advised in the mid-nineties on the Civil Engineer's Consultancy Appointment and, subsequently, the Civil Engineering Contract, for the Construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator ever built. Located in a tunnel 100 metres underground at CERN, on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, the LHC confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson particle in 2012.

The Science Gateway will have a footprint of 7000 square metres, and offer a variety of spaces and activities, including exhibitions explaining the secrets of nature, from the very small (elementary particles) to the very large (the structure and evolution of the universe). The exhibitions will also feature CERN's accelerators, experiments and computing, how scientists use them in their exploration and how CERN technologies benefit society. Hands-on experimentation will be a key ingredient in the Science Gateway's educational programme, allowing visitors to get first-hand experience of what it's like to be a scientist. The immersive activities available in the Science Gateway will foster critical thinking, evidence-based assessment and use of the scientific method, important tools in all walks of life.

More information on the project can be found here.