The Francis Crick is open and worth a gawp

Locals have spent the last five years watching it rise up between the gothic splendour of St Pancras Station and the red brick brutalism of the British Library. And now, finally, we all get to take a look inside the completed, equally spectacular Francis Crick Institute for the first time.

The £650m purpose-built facility for biomedical research is a stunning piece of architecture, the curvaceous modernism of its sweeping roof cleverly managing to complement both of the famous buildings nearby, despite now looming high and bulkily above them.

Conrad Shawcross’s gravity-defying digital sculpture Paradigm sets things off a treat at street level too. And once through the doors, the sci-fi pod reception area nestles like a pristine alien egg in the centre of the vast central atrium. It’s therefore inevitably a little bit of a comedown to find the gallery space containing the institute’s first public exhibition is somewhat tucked away.

Never fear though, for where the eyes are stimulated on the way in, now it’s the brain’s turn. The debut exhibition, ‘How do we look?’, showcases some of the work already going on right upstairs, where over a thousand scientists are currently moving their various research projects under the same roof, collaborating on furthering our understanding of human health.

In this first show, you’ll find striking images, computer models and videos, each created by a resident scientist to help solve a research problem. We particularly enjoyed the shimmering beauty of a visualisation of yeast cell DNA, a 3D image built up from 1000 super-thin slices of the heart of a mouse, and the angular complexity in an animated model of the influenza virus.

As well as being vital research tools, these images have an unmistakably artistic side, which make them an ideal tool for introducing us laypeople to the seriously brainy work now taking place right here. This includes research into how and why disease develops, plus new ways to diagnose, prevent and treat all kinds of illnesses ? from cancer to heart disease and stroke, to infections and neurodegenerative diseases.

A rolling programme of public exhibitions and events will continue throughout 2017 and beyond, supporting the premise that art, architecture and science are colliding here in a brand new way.

Despite the relatively small public gallery space, The Crick can immediately hold its own as a world-class attraction alongside heavyweight neighbours like the British Library and the wealth of institutions clustered in the Knowledge Quarter across King’s Cross and Bloomsbury.