A major overhaul of a newly-acquired science campus in Windlesham, Surrey has been offered planning greenlight from the Global pharma company UCB. The work on revamp will include a distinctive new three-storey timber structure at its centre designed by Thomas Heatherwick architect. Kier and Mace are also set to be part of the project which is set to begin this autumn.
The Surrey pharma campus project is part of the plan from UCB for investing over £1bn in a duration five years to enhance its research and development potential in the UK. UCB acquired the 19-hectare site for science campus in Windlesham last year from Eli Lilly and Company having plans to develop a major modern R&D hub supporting cutting-edge research and development, medicines’ early manufacturing and commercialization.
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The pharma science campus in Windlesham, Surrey project.
The Surrey pharma campus project will also touch on the site’s Manor House refurbishment and alterations, internal renovation of present R&D structures and the bulldozing of one wing and courtyard of the R&D development. The new central 30,000 sq ft glulam collaboration hub is sunken one floor into the landscape so that it links to the adjacent Chemistry East development at lower ground level. Upon completion, the project is set to be one of UCB’s three global research and design centres and help in the ‘successful execution of its research plan to create innovative treatments for patients like UCB’s world-class antibody discovery platforms’ as well as gene therapies and translational medicine.
The project lead at UCB, Catherine Nikolaou, stated the project would ‘bring us one step closer to the new home at Windlesham’, and everyone would then focus on the strip out and preparation for the next science campus in Windlesham phase in spring. The company is nearly 100-year-old and initials stand for Union Chimique Belge, has an annual turnover of over €4 billion. It is well known its medications for treating Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and Crohn’s illnesses. The company plans to complete the project by the end of 2023.
