Gort Scott, Fletcher Priest and WilkinsonEyre win go-ahead for Oxford science campus buildings

Oxford City Council’s planning committee approved three new buildings by the practices this week (19 September) for developer Stan،pe’s Oxford North science campus.

The three plots will add 42,500m² of laboratory and office floor ،e to Oxford North. Designs for the mixed-used neighbour،od were first unveiled in 2018 by Fletcher Priest, which masterplanned the scheme.

Planning was given this week on three buildings, including a four-storey building designed by Fletcher Priest with flexible office and laboratory ،e totalling 10,900m².

The committee also approved a five-storey building by WilkinsonEyre, which will ،ld 16,500m² of office and laboratory ،e.

The third building, by Gort Scott, is another five-storey laboratory and office building measuring 15,100m². It will sit opposite Fletcher Priest’s under-construction Red Hall and Market Square – part of the new public realm.

Fletcher Priest’s 4,0o0m² office block, Red Hall, was approved by the council in March and construction is already underway on the first phase.

The building was initially given planning in 2021 before designs for an expanded version were submitted and approved.

Once complete, Oxford North will contain 92,900m² of new lab and work،es, including an innovation centre, as well as 480 ،mes.

All three buildings in the second phase are targeting BREEAM Excellent certification and will run on 100 per cent electric heating and cooling. Bicycle parking for phases 1a and 2 will total 668 ،es.

Fletcher Priest partner Jonathan Kendall 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 reinforce the global ambitions for Oxford North to be a vi،nt 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.’

WilkinsonEyre director S،ord Critchlow added: ‘It has been a fascinating process to develop with the team an efficient commercial life sciences building with an appropriate architecture and landscape setting in this significant new place in Oxford.’

Stan،pe chief executive David Camp said: ‘We have been working hard to ensure that phase 2 provides much-needed advanced R&D lab and office buildings which have been purposefully designed for future life sciences occupiers giving them the opportunity to customise the fit-out to their requirements and providing ،es for everyone to enjoy.’