Innovations Into Success Summer 2016 | Page 105

Granta Park

Location Granta Park Great Abington Cambridge CB21 6GP
Contact Details Contact : Douglass Cuff , Estate Director Tel : 01223 893710 Email : doug . cuff @ biomedrealty . com Website : www . grantapark . co . uk
Aerial view of Granta Park Milstein Building
Granta Park Granta Park is Cambridge ’ s leading life-science research park and extends to 120 acres in total . It is a low-density research park , located at the heart of Europe ’ s strongest and most dynamic cluster of life science and technology-based companies . Many of these companies were founded to commercialise research that was spun out of the UK ’ s top-ranked University of Cambridge which is located six miles away .
Granta Park has two separate owners , each of whom owns approximately one-half of the entire estate . They work together in close collaboration to provide a seamless property service and a unified management entity for all third-party clients .
BioMed Realty is headquartered in San Diego , California and is the world ’ s leading REIT that specialises exclusively in life science real estate . It has invested over $ 5 bn in state-of-the-art life science research facilities totaling over 18 million sq ft concentrated in the US and UK ’ s core life science markets . It has developed many of the properties in its portfolio on a bespoke basis , and thus has considerable experience of delivering tailor-made projects to the highest international standards for the world ’ s major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies .
TWI is a research institute , owned by its industrial members and operates on a not-for-profit basis . It purchased the site in 1946 , founded Granta Park as an open research campus in 1996 , and by 2016 comprehensively redeveloped its own operational estate with new offices and laboratories . The new facilities ( 250,000 sq ft ) have embedded within them the UK ’ s first post-graduate Structural Integrity Research Institute , which TWI is founding in collaboration with Cambridge , Manchester and Brunel Universities
The Development The Park , with B1b planning consent , has been developed exclusively for high-tech companies involved in research and development . Current occupiers include Illumina , Vernalis , Gilead , MedImmune , Pfizer , PPD , One Nucleus , CRUK and Lonza .
Work on the green-field site for Granta Park commenced in 1998 and since that time has grown to 1 million square feet of laboratory and office space with 2,500 people working on the park each day . Planning consent for a further 435,000 square feet was achieved for Granta Park Phase II in December 2015 . The multi-occupancy Riverside Development of 68,000 square feet was completed in January 2009 , offering start-up space for small and medium-sized companies .
Work has started on a new 155,000 sq ft scientific research building for Illumina ’ s new EMEA Headquarters . The project will be built in two phases to address Illumina ’ s rapid growth . Phase one comprises laboratories , offices , a connecting winter garden , landscaped terraces and an outdoor amphitheatre .
Location – the Cambridge Sub-region Granta Park is located in the Cambridge sub-region , six miles from the city centre . The proximity of Cambridge University , the Laboratory of Molecular Biology , the Human Genome Project and Addenbrooke ’ s Hospital offers a vibrant skills pool of people with the experience needed by high-growth companies , excellent networking opportunities enabling access to expertise and facilities , business opportunities with more venture capitalist activity than any other region in Europe , and a Cambridge postcode which brings international recognition .
Accessibility Granta Park is in a prime location , a 20 minute drive ( six miles ) from the centre of Cambridge , next to the A11 and only five miles from junction 9 of the M11 , providing easy access to Stansted Airport .
The master plan provides for ample circulation roads and car parking to serve the buildings and the on-site employees . Additions such as a commuter bus service , a car-sharing scheme and a cycle path linking with Cambridge city centre ensure that employees at Granta Park have a choice of transport methods with consideration for the environment .
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