On 15 April 2011 it was announced that Imperial College London and King's College London would be joining the UKCMRI as partners and that both had signed a memorandum of understanding to commit £40 million each to the project.

On 25 May 2011, it was announced that the UKCMRI would be renamed the Francis Crick Institute in July to coincide with ground being broken on the construction of its building, in honour of the British scientist and Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick.
In July 2011 the UKCMRI was renamed the Francis Crick Institute.
A dedication ceremony for the new building was held on 11 October 2011, attended by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, David Willetts MP and Sir Paul Nurse.
Francis Crick's surviving daughter Gabrielle gave a short speech, while his son Mike donated Crick's California licence plate "AT GC" into a time capsule buried during the ceremony.
On 6 June 2013 a topping out ceremony was held, the Institute’s science strategy was announced and a £3 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation was confirmed.

In mid August 2016, construction work finished and the building was handed over.
The first scientists moved in on 1 September.
On 9 November 2016 the Francis Crick Institute was officially opened by the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York.
During the visit a portrait of Francis Crick by Robert Ballagh was unveiled.
As part of her tour, The Queen started the sequencing of the genome of the Crick’s director, Sir Paul Nurse – all three billion letters in his DNA code.
On 15 April 2011 it was announced that Imperial College London and King's College London would be joining the UKCMRI as partners and that both had signed a memorandum of understanding to commit £40 million each to the project.
On 25 May 2011, it was announced that the UKCMRI would be renamed the Francis Crick Institute in July to coincide with ground being broken on the construction of its building, in honour of the British scientist and Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick. In July 2011 the UKCMRI was renamed the Francis Crick Institute. A dedication ceremony for the new building was held on 11 October 2011, attended by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, David Willetts MP and Sir Paul Nurse. Francis Crick's surviving daughter Gabrielle gave a short speech, while his son Mike donated Crick's California licence plate "AT GC" into a time capsule buried during the ceremony. On 6 June 2013 a topping out ceremony was held, the Institute’s science strategy was announced and a £3 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation was confirmed.
In mid August 2016, construction work finished and the building was handed over. The first scientists moved in on 1 September. On 9 November 2016 the Francis Crick Institute was officially opened by the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York. During the visit a portrait of Francis Crick by Robert Ballagh was unveiled. As part of her tour, The Queen started the sequencing of the genome of the Crick’s director, Sir Paul Nurse – all three billion letters in his DNA code.
Francis Crick Institute