19/10/09
Countryside Properties, Liberty Property Trust and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have secured formal planning consent for their 160 acre Cambridge Biomedical Campus development in Cambridge. The Campus will provide 215,000 sq m (2.3 million sq ft) of new space for biomedical research, clinical treatment and higher education.
This permission opens the door for Papworth Hospital, the UK’s largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital, to progress their plans to move to the Campus. The Medical Research Council is already constructing a new 25,000 sq m (270,000 sq ft) Laboratory of Molecular Biology on the site.
The £900 million expansion of the Campus by Countryside and Liberty provides an opportunity for specialist occupiers with a biomedical focus, from both the public and private sectors, to relocate to this centre of biomedical excellence at the northern end of the influential biomedical ‘corridor’ between London and Cambridge. It will also be possible for some organisations to co-locate with existing occupiers such as The University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge University Hospitals, The Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK, all leaders in their respective fields. The Campus is already home to a number of organisations engaged in discovery science and is associated with 14 Nobel Prize winners, principally working in the world famous MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
The UK Government has selected the Campus as one of only five ‘Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centres’ in the UK. This has secured significant ongoing investment by the National Institute of Health Research in research infrastructure and staffing.
In March 2009, the Campus’ future importance was confirmed when a consortium of the University of Cambridge and its three principle NHS hospital partners was designated one of only five Academic Health Science Centres by the Department of Health. The designation reflects the Campus’ ability to compete with equivalent international organisations in the global market and to drive the adoption of scientific innovation within the NHS.
Significant infrastructure works are already underway to provide new direct access to the site. These works include a new link road to Junction 10 of the M11 and the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway which will provide fast frequent connections to the City Centre (12 mins) and railway station (four mins). These works are due to complete next year as well as the first phase of infrastructure on the Campus.
Andrew Blevins, Managing Director of joint developer Liberty Property Trust UK Limited commented: “The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is already an international centre of excellence in biomedical research. Effective collaboration between its impressive list of existing occupiers creates a unique environment for the advanced translation of basic science into better patient care. We can now offer other commercial, scientific and educational organisations the opportunity that only co-location on this pre-eminent campus can achieve. It is the only science park in the UK that can offer true and immediate access to all of this ground breaking biomedical research and clinical activities on the same site.”
The letting agents for the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Bidwells and Savills are marketing bespoke buildings of up to 5 storeys on the site.
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