Three new lab buildings greenlit at Oxford North

Three new laboratory and office buildings which total 458,100 sq ft have been approved to be built at Oxford North by Oxford City Council’s planning committee.

Oxford North is a £700 million life sciences district, aiming to deliver one million sq ft of laboratory and workspaces, 480 new homes, hotel, nursery, cafes, bars, three public parks and infrastructure.

These approved plans mark the start of phase 2, with outline planning permission for Oxford North’s masterplan and detailed planning permission for phase 1a granted in March 2021.

Phase 1a will comprise the Red Hall which will deliver 43,500 sq ft (4,041 sq m) of co-working spaces, meeting and workspaces for science and innovation starts-ups and SMEs.

Phase 2’s Plots A, B & C RMAs were submitted following pre-application discussions, an Oxford Design Review Panel workshop and a four-week public consultation.

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All three buildings will target BREEAM Excellent certification and have 100% electric heating and cooling, efficient lighting, high levels of fabric performance and optimised ventilation to incorporate heat recovery and solar PV technology.

Plot A has been designed by Fletcher Priest Architects, Plot B by Wilkinson Eyre and Plot C by Gort Scott.

Jonathan Kendall, Partner and Director of Urban Design at Fletcher Priest Architects, said: “Receiving approval for Plot A is another successful milestone in our ongoing role on the project, which we have been working on since the strategic masterplanning stage.

''These three new laboratory and office buildings further reinforces the global ambitions for Oxford North to be a vibrant place which both enables and boosts discovery.

''It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with the expanding design team and work together to create a series of buildings which are complementary to one another, and to the first phase buildings, as this new place is delivered.”

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