Unilever’s Advanced Manufacturing Centre is being built at Port Sunlight to enable scientists and engineers to test new ideas during personal care and home care product development on a factory scale.
The 6,500 m2 facility, designed by DLA Architects, is scheduled for completion in 2017.
BAM has been appointed for both the enabling works and a two-stage design and build contract.
At a ground-breaking ceremony today, Unilever Port Sunlight site leader Cameron Jones said: “Today heralds a new phase on our journey of research and development at our historic Port Sunlight home. In building the centre we are renewing our commitment to R&D in the UK and the northwest. From here we will have the capacity to innovate products with increased speed and efficiency, which we will turn into winning products to be enjoyed by tens of millions both here and around the world.”
He added: “The centre will complement existing and new facilities such as the Materials Innovation Factory currently under construction at the University of Liverpool due to open in early 2017, where new materials will be explored by our scientists that could then be further developed here at the Unilever Advanced Manufacturing Centre.”
BAM is also building the Materials Innovation Factory under a £23m contract. [See previous report here.]
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