200,000 sq ft of lab and office space approved at Alderley Park

Cheshire East Council has approved a planning application for 200,000 sq ft of additional lab and office space to be built at the Alderley Park life science and tech hub.

Developers, Bruntwood SciTech submitted proposals to the council for further expansion at the site in Autumn last year after an extensive public consultation on plans for two new buildings.

One five-storey building will provide 100,000 sq ft of CL2 lab space, suitable for chemistry and biology uses, with associated write-up space. The second building will provide 100,000 sq ft of office space across six floors, providing a mix of coworking, serviced, leased and made and managed spaces suitable for life sciences, technology and healthcare companies.

The expansion will support continued development of the UK’s largest single-site life science campus, which already is home to over 250 companies; new buildings will add capacity for a further 1,600 new jobs to created at Alderley Park.

The developments will be the first newly built commercial spaces to be delivered since acquiring the site in 2014, and will follow the current £247 million investment which consists of recent redevelopments including the 150,000 sq ft tech hub Glasshouse, £20 million investment into 86,000 sq ft of new labs, and No. 11 Mereside‘s 35,000 sq ft of workspace.

Dr Kath Mackay, Director of Life Sciences, Bruntwood SciTech said:

“We’re excited to embark on the next chapter at Alderley Park and support the continued growth of the life sciences sector in the UK. Today’s outcome marks a huge milestone for the Park and highlights our commitment to providing best-in-class life sciences facilities to support science and technology businesses across the nation.”

Despite planning success for Bruntwood SciTech, further expansion of residential development on the Alderley Park was knocked back by the borough.

Councillors overruled planning officers and voted to reject a retirement development on the site proposed by developer, Symphony, part of locally-based Vita Property Group, best known for its student accommodation. While planning officers felt developer contributions to key worker homes for Alderley Park outweighed problems with the scheme, councillor’s found fault with the lack of affordable housing provision and the scale of the scheme.