Sci-Tech Daresbury plots £12m expansion with new 42,000 sq ft complex

Science and innovation campus Sci-Tech Daresbury has revealed plans for a new £12m grade A office complex.

Codenamed Project Violet, the proposed speculative development will span 42,000 sq ft across three buildings at the gateway to the campus on Innovation Way.

The scheme will comprise two properties of 12,000 sq ft and a third providing 18,000 sq ft, all three storeys high and offering floor plates of between 3,500 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft.

Landscaping improvements around the site also form part of the planning application.

The project would be funded using Enterprise Zone retained business rates and investment from the site’s three joint venture partners – developer Langtree, Halton Borough Council and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

It represents the latest phase of development at the campus, which has upgraded and expanded during the last two years. Most recently, Sci-Tech Daresbury opened the £20m Techspace One and Two buildings.

A CGI of ’Project Violet’

Neal Biddle, group development director at Langtree and member of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company board, said: “The fact we are committed to further speculative development by delivering much needed grade A office space in the region underlines not only our ongoing success, but also our commitment to the region and the market demand for what we are proposing.

“The campus is now home to more than 120 businesses and more are relocating every week and so the need for more space is critical. Our recent UKSPA accolade, our Enterprise Zone status and the opening of the high specification Techspace One and Two buildings earlier this year, have cemented our reputation as a world-class location where business can innovate and flourish.”

He added: “There is a critical need to invest in Sci-Tech Daresbury infrastructure for economic development and to help the UK to be able to compete in global markets, an understanding and a vision shared by all our partners.”

Work on the office complex could start as early as Summer 2018, for completion 12 months later.