Newcastle’s global hub for urban innovation enters next phase in development
A NEW round of construction and investment is under way for Science Central, the UK’s biggest urban development site outside London and an internationally renowned innovation centre for sustainable engineering, ageing and data sciences
The site is a partnership between Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and Legal & General, and is already home to Newcastle University’s award-winning Urban Sciences Building and The Core, a seven-storey home for knowledgebased science and technology firms.
The third building on the site – the Newcastle Laboratory – will open later this year, providing laboratories and offices for a wide range of science-based companies, primarily life science and healthcare.
Both The Core and Newcastle Laboratory have secured significant funding through the previous and current European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programmes, which help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses and local community regeneration, and create jobs.
The next two years will see the opening of the National Innovation Centres for Data and Ageing and Newcastle University’s £29m Learning and Teaching Centre.
And Legal & General is poised to announce its plans for the site’s first private-sector building, The Lumen, a 100,000sq ft grade-A office development. The development is bringing high-quality jobs to Newcastle and the North East: around 4,000 people will work on the completed site, from academics to entrepreneurs. In recognition of the move to a new phase of development, research, and collaboration which will firmly launch it as a leading international innovation quarter, the site is being renamed Newcastle Helix.
Leader of Newcastle City Council Coun Nick Forbes said: “Our ambitious plans for this site continue to progress and as work on the site moves to the next phase we feel it is the right time to rename the site Newcastle Helix.
“The groundbreaking developments that are taking place will firmly position our city as a major national and international hub for scientific research and technology businesses, creating knowledgebased jobs for future generations in Newcastle.
“Not only will we be creating more office and research space for businesses and academics in the new, state-of-the-art buildings, but work will also start on the residential element of the site, which will result in 450 homes right at the heart of the city for both families and those looking for apartment living.”
Newcastle Helix is a £350m flagship project bringing together academia, communities, business, industry and the public sector. Being transformed into an exemplar of urban sustainability, this unique site is a test bed for innovative technologies and solutions that will tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing cities around the world, such as flooding, resilient infrastructure and energy. Drawing on the expertise of key industry partners such as Siemens, Microsoft and Northumbrian Water, the aim is for Newcastle Helix to improve the lives of people not just in Newcastle, but all over the world. Newcastle University vice-chancellor and president Prof Chris Day explained: “The North East of England has been at the forefront of innovation for more than 200 years, from Stephenson’s Rocket and Charles Parsons’s invention of the steam turbine, to being granted the world’s first ever licence to offer fertility treatment to mothers affected by mitochondrial diseases.
“Now, Newcastle Helix is set to be a site of world-leading research and technological advances alongside global businesses that will enable us to write the next chapter in our region’s enviable story of invention and innovation.”
Central to the ongoing success of Newcastle Helix is the unique public/private sector partnership between Legal & General, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University. The investment this has secured has driven forward the ambitions for the site and the city.
“Newcastle is thriving,” says Rachel Dickie, head of urban regeneration at Legal & General.
“There’s so much investment happening, so many big projects in the pipeline. We’re delighted to be one of three partners leading this flagship development that will bring more great jobs, homes and retail and leisure venues to the city.”