Carter Jonas has secured planning consent on behalf of Harwell Science and Innovation Campus for the development of a new, flexible employment building on the popular science park in Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire. Consent was awarded by the Vale of White Horse District Council.

Harwell Campus is located within The Science Vale UK area, a location of international significance for innovation and science-based research and business. The Campus extends to around 700 acres and is home to numerous organisations, predominantly working within the innovation technologies sector. It provides employment to around 6,500 people working in over 225 organisations.

The planning consent allows for the development of approximately 21,250 sq ft (GIA) of employment space. The building, known as ‘Zeta’, has the potential to accommodate three separate units, each providing flexible spaces for offices, laboratory and clean rooms, and manufacturing uses. The flexible design will allow one or more future tenants to occupy all or each of the units. They will benefit from a combined shared entrance and core area, within an enhanced landscape setting comprising a courtyard and spill out areas for staff and visitors.

Carter Jonas has been involved in planning more widely across the Harwell campus and has secured planning consents on behalf of Harwell for a range of uses within the science and technology sector.

Katherine Jones, Associate Partner in Carter Jonas in the Oxford office commented, “With its close proximity to Oxford, Harwell Campus is a fantastic location for companies specialising in energy, space, health and quantum computing, in addition to other sectors. It has remained an extremely popular destination for organisations to locate, despite the changing circumstances of the pandemic and its aftermath, and the demand for increased mixed-use and office space is testament to that.”

Stuart Grant, chief executive of Harwell Campus, commented, “The importance of science and technology for the UK and its influence on the world cannot be underestimated.

“Zeta building forms part of our ambitious development pipeline at Harwell and will ensure we continue to create an ecosystem for innovative companies, delivering scientific breakthroughs, to grow at pace.”