Nottingham’s Island Quarter development adds “ground-breaking” bioscience facility

A “ground-breaking” new bioscience facility has been announced as the next phase of Nottingham’s The Island Quarter development.

Plans submitted to Nottingham City Council today, (December 2, 2022), feature more than 245,000 sq ft of high quality, flexible research and laboratory space, further enhancing the city’s reputation as the bioscience capital of the UK.

With more than 200 bioscience businesses in the city already, the proposed facility will act as an incubator for new and growing companies, in what is a “strategically important” sector within Nottingham.

The plans consist of two buildings, a five storey east building and a seven storey west building. The two buildings will be connected by a glazed link at upper levels and provide a mixture of laboratory, office and meeting spaces.

Featuring rainwater gardens and medicinal planting, the building’s external landscaping is designed to echo the vision for the overall site, with an ecology-focussed street that links the latest phase with the rest of The Island Quarter.

The surroundings are designed to respond to the emerging wider masterplan, which is being developed in collaboration with the planning authority and is the subject of ongoing community engagement.

These latest proposals will continue the development of the northern edge of the 36-acre development, which also features a 693-bed student accommodation block, due for completion in summer 2024.

Christopher Ware, property director at Conygar, commented: “Nottingham has a world-renowned reputation as a leading city for innovation, and that is never more the case than in the field of biosciences.

“Bringing forward this phase of the development will create vital research space for some of the city’s most innovative businesses, and further grow its standing in the bioscience sector.”

Richard Watson of The Island Quarter project delivery team, added: “This latest phase is another significant step forward for the regeneration of The Island Quarter, bringing the potential for hundreds of new jobs and increasing the footfall across the wider site.

“With 1 The Island Quarter now fully open for business and the student accommodation set to be ready for the 2024/25 intake, it’s a truly exciting time not just for the project, but for the city as a whole.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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