Kidlington: Green light for £90m Oxford Technology Park

 Hill Street Holdings and Bloombridge have been given the go ahead by Cherwell District Council for Oxford Technology Park, a new research and development (R&D) park at Langford Lane, Kidlington.

The £90 million scheme will create 434,457 sq ft of much-needed commercial and R&D space on the northern outskirts of Oxford.

The park will comprise two flagship Grade-A, three-storey buildings with office, R&D and innovation space totalling 81,015 sq ft along the front of the site, plus a range of two-storey R&D buildings behind, which will vary in size to suit individual occupiers’ requirements.

The park is designed as a campus development, with buildings set in landscaped surroundings to create a high-quality working environment creating a new gateway to Kidlington’s established employment area. 

The two flagship buildings will provide floor plates of over 10,000 sq ft as well as space for conferencing and an innovation hub for start-up businesses.

The R&D buildings will provide bespoke combinations of office, laboratory, production and storage, providing hybrid space to meet the needs of the high-tech industry. All units will be supported by facilities including storage yards with loading bays, secure parking and external storage for volume equipment, gas tanks and deliveries. 

Angus Bates, CEO of Hill Street Holdings, said: “Oxford Technology Park will deliver top-quality office and R&D space for businesses of all sizes, set within 20 acres of landscaped grounds. It represents a multi-million pound investment in the local economy with the potential to create 1,250 new jobs and satisfy local demand in the area for space of this kind. In time, we hope it will become a significant contributor to Oxford as an international centre for research and development.”  

Richard Cutler, partner of Bloombridge, said: “This project has taken 13 years to come through the planning system, with a recorded loss of 352,000 sq ft of enquiries for space from R&D businesses in the past five years.  We are delighted that Cherwell District Council has supported the local plan inspector by confirming that very special circumstances exist for the grant of this planning permission in the Oxford Green Belt.

“As George Osborne said in his Autumn Statement, in the modern world one of the best ways you can back business is by backing science, and this is exactly what Oxford Technology Park does.”   

Construction starts in early 2016.