Healthy outlook for work on life sciences projects

Life sciences projects are showing positive momentum, with prospects for new contracts to deliver space for biotech firms and organisations.

A planning go-ahead for a scheme to double the size of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the submission of plans for a major life sciences development in Paddington in west London point to significant new construction contracts in the sector.

They are in addition to a series of new life sciences projects across university cities, which the government is encouraging as it seeks to exploit the commercial potential of the sector.

A government plan to drive growth in the sector and position the UK as the ‘leading life sciences economy in Europe by 2030’ was published last summer, supported by over £2 billion of public funding.

Meanwhile, occupier demand for life sciences remains strong. A recent report from agents Cushman & Wakefield noted that the take-up of life sciences space in the so-called ‘golden triangle’ between Oxford, London, and Cambridge reached 556,700 sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2025; the highest quarterly total in over a decade.

Up to £3 billion of investment

The growth of Cambridge Biomedical Campus will involve up to £3 billion of private investment over the next two decades after Cambridgeshire County Council approved a land deal with its development partner, Prologis, to expand the site.

Approval for phases three and four of the campus, to be developed on 67 acres of land, will add up to 2.4 million sq ft of life sciences and R & D innovation space.

Meanwhile, in the short term, a £25.5 million laboratory/office building under the existing phase two of the campus is at the pre-tender stage with work set to start this summer and run for 18 months (Project ID: 24366589).

In addition, work on the huge new £215 million Cambridge Children’s Hospital – also based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – is due to start early next year and run for 39 months. Mace has been appointed project manager on the scheme, which involves over 46,000 sq m of space (Project ID: 21364148).

In London, detailed plans were submitted in January for a new £109 million life sciences development on a former Imperial College site to be known as the Paddington Hub. The project involves the demolition of existing buildings and the development of around 50,000 sq m of space for clinical trials, along with retail/restaurant/café/gym use. Work on the scheme, where HOK International is the architect, is due to start later this summer and run until 2029 (Project ID: 25569180).

Other significant life sciences projects are also in the pipeline. In Oxford, tenders are due to be returned on a £125 million life sciences facility to be built in a former Debenhams store for The Crown Estate at 1-12 Magdalen Street. Work on the scheme, involving 13,000 sq m of space, is due to start this summer and run for 44 months (Project ID: 24153028).

Elsewhere, work is set to get underway this spring on the £180 million Grafton Centre Redevelopment in Cambridge (pictured). It will transform a former shopping centre with more than 47,000 sq m of life sciences space, along with areas devoted to retail, gym, hotel, and cinema (Project ID: 23099519).