Rothamsted Research has opened 48 studio flats and communal facilities for visiting scientists and students at its facility in Harpenden.

The accommodation, which has already been given an award by the Harpenden Society, has been named after two influential figures from the facility’s history: mathematician Ronald Aylmer Fisher and the first chair of the Environment Agency John Ailwyn Fellowes, 4th Baron de Ramsey.

Lord de Ramsey said: “It’s not very often in life that one gets the chance to be involved, and then to have your name on it as well.

“This is an honour to have our family name here on site. That’s more important to me than being a member of the House of Lords.”

The new buildings are two-storey tall and provide six different styles of accommodation from single rooms, to studio apartments, to a unit that offers wheelchair accessibility.