New Leases for Life Sciences

The life sciences sector gained international recognition following the UK’s successful Covid vaccine development and roll-out and is one of the UK’s fastest growing, employing over 250,000 people and generating approximately £88.9 bn per annum. 

Huw Mellor oversees much of Carter Jonas’ planning-based work in this sector and it is no coincidence that he is based in Oxford, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine: as Huw explains, the vast potential for life sciences is constrained by one significant factor – location. ‘The top priority for life sciences operators is to be within good proximity of the colleges and research facilities of a leading university. Operators are drawn to a select number of vibrant cities and nearby centres which combine this requirement with links to good hospitals, public transport, restaurants, bars and culture.’

It might be expected that the remote working revolution, coupled with increasingly global collaboration in science, would open up a variety of locations. But life sciences companies have very precise requirements: ‘Our clients’ strong preference is to be based in the centres of Oxford, Cambridge or London - the “golden triangle”. We recently completed a relocation strategy on behalf of a US company. We reviewed around sixty sites in Oxfordshire, several of which were well located for innovation hubs such as Harwell and Culham, but only those located within the Oxford ring road were viewed with any serious intent.’

Huw’s work with Oxford Science Enterprises on the transformation of a 1980s indoor shopping centre in the centre of Oxford represents the ideal opportunity: ‘Our work on the Clarendon Centre was unprecedented as a non-speculative life sciences-led redevelopment in the city centre. This was because, as the client commented at the time, there was approximately ten times greater demand for laboratory space than supply available. We worked with the owner Lothbury Investment Management to transform the tired and dated site to create a large-scale life-sciences-led mixed-use scheme. The site included several substantial buildings which were retained, and also provided the opportunity for new city centre streets and public open spaces which increase permeability and provide new vantage points across the historic city.’

Despite the inevitable constraints on major redevelopment within such a historically significant, dense and well-used location, the scheme was approved unanimously at committee, with members commenting that it demonstrated multiple wide-scale benefits to the city centre and represented a ‘positive example of how planning should work’. 

The property industry is fond of quoting Tom Sawyer on the limited availability of land – ‘they’re not making it anymore’ - and this is no truer than in prime central Oxford, Cambridge and London. 

Moving Towards Expansion

So can the undisputed opportunity to expand the life sciences sector be realised with such limitations?

‘Utilising prime spaces to their best advantage is the first means of achieving this,’ says Huw. ‘In the case of the Clarendon Centre, that meant providing a mix of uses which both satisfies immediate need and also accommodates future requirements; utilising appropriate buildings, and the very sensitive design of new buildings; and an appreciation of the historic integrity of the location, together with the innovative inclusion of today’s priorities – the first being sustainability. Sustainability is key to attracting and retaining a quality workforce in this sector. The urban location posed some challenges in this respect, but most were overcome: the redevelopment will deliver a green wall, green roofs, water harvesting, a blue roof and approximately 50 trees – a biodiversity net gain well over 200%.’

As a next step in resolving the location conundrum, is there an opportunity to expand the triangle? Perhaps to alter its shape? Government policy, recently cemented in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, is to focus prosperity outside the ‘golden triangle’ – the impetus behind the Oxford Cambridge Arc is fading as locations around the ‘red wall’ become the priority for investment. Does levelling up, specifically the opportunity to focus innovation and manufacturing within the ten new UK freeports provide an answer?

‘In principle yes, but in reality – probably not quite yet,’ says Huw. ‘Operators are often very specific in their requirements to stay within Oxford, Cambridge and London, although some are moving into other locations within the triangle, such as Stevenage.’ 

In the more immediate term, some life sciences operators have opted to locate part of their workforce on science parks with good access to these key cities. Carter Jonas recently secured planning consent on behalf of BioMed Realty for the development of substantial R&D facilities on the Granta Park science, technology and biopharmaceutical campus in Cambridge. The five buildings, which have a combined floor area of approximately 34,220 m², will be constructed in landscaped grounds surrounding two lakes: again, a very sustainable development, which is set to achieve BREEAM Excellent and WELL Gold Standard and Wired Score certification. 

So despite the golden triangle remaining the preferred location for life sciences operators, what are the longer-term prospects? ‘The most logical solution would be expansion in and around freeports and in the areas identified for investment under the levelling up agenda,’ says Huw. ‘With improved communication, including accessible sustainable transport between such locations and university cities, this is a realistic long-term prospect which, despite operators’ current mind-sets, would be of immense benefit both to the burgeoning industry and the future prosperity of the UK.’