Quad Two is the third in a series of developments that will form a collegiate style quadrangle alongside Harwell’s Becquerel Avenue where technology companies such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Agilent and Oxford Space Systems already operate.
SDC Builders was main contractor for neighbouring Quad One, which is now home to The Faraday Institution, but no contractor for Quad Two has been appointed yet.
However, an decision must be imminent as work is due to start on Quad Two in the first quarter of 2021 and completion is expected in 2022.
Architect Oliver Milton, partner at Hawkins Brown, which designed the planned building, said: “Hawkins Brown are delighted that Quad Two has been granted planning permission. The building is the next step in the development of a series of buildings organised around a formal landscaped quad. It continues our involvement at Harwell Campus which is one of the UK’s innovation hotspots.”
The cladding treatment on Quad Two represents a continuation of the Quad One building, based on the objective of using light, reveal and scale to suit the natural landscape. The facade features a pattern of repeating fins, and glazed, mirrored and solid panels that ‘reflect and respond to the surrounding trees, grassland and riparian areas’, the campus authorities say.
Harwell Campus director Angus Horner said: “Harwell Campus is a world-leading home for fast growth science and technology organisations. This new building will enable companies looking for a competitive, multi-cluster, collaborative advantage to be located alongside some of the brightest minds in the country, delivering world leading research and life changing technologies.
“As demand for Grade A accommodation for ambitious science and tech companies has continued to grow across the UK we are delighted to be able to meet this requirement in the form of Quad Two. With a total of 1.5 million sq ft to be developed by the mid-2020s we look forward to welcoming many more people to Harwell in the coming years.”
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