Planning permission granted for Oxford Science Park's expansion plans

Published by

Nicky Godding

Oxford City Council’s East Area Planning Committee has approved the detailed plans for two office/laboratory buildings on The Oxford Science Park’s Plot 16 comprising 168,000 sq ft. The plans feature a central raised plaza and wider landscaping and accessibility enhancements.

Construction is planned to begin in Autumn 2020 and will represent one of the largest commercial workspace commitments Oxford has seen. The first building should reach practical completion by early 2022. Discussions are underway with a number of parties for pre-lets.

The central raised plaza, and the Plot’s eastern plaza at street level, have been designed to facilitate access to a railway station that will come with the planned re-opening of the Cowley Branch line. Both Network Rail and Chiltern Railways, amongst others, have been consulted on the plans.

The Oxford Science Park is owned by Magdalen College, Oxford and the ambitious plans for Plot 16 respond to demands from the increasing number of science and technology companies at the Park, across Oxford, and more broadly. The plans for Plot 16 are in addition to the new space for small to medium companies, the Bellhouse Building, under construction for occupation in mid 2020. The Park’s increase in contemporary workspace is deliberate as its commercial eco-system grows, becomes more diverse technologically and has greater reach.

Perkins and Will is the architect for Plot 16, which will be built in a highly sustainable manner. Other professional design and planning team members include: Studio DBM, Hoare Lea, Campbell Reith, Core5, 3PM and Savills.

Piers Scrimshaw-Wright, CEO of The Oxford Science Park, said, ‘We are delighted Oxford City Council supports our ambitious plans for Plot 16. Oxford’s science and technology sector is thriving and at The Oxford Science Park we are witnessing unprecedented growth. The development of Plot 16 represents another major step in the evolution of the Park, and our plans are a catalyst for the re-opening of the Cowley Branch line which is an important infrastructure initiative that will reinforce our convenient connectivity with the City Centre.’

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.