Go-ahead for Harwell's Tech Foundry West

Vale of White Horse District Council has granted planning permission for Tech Foundry West, a speculative 70,000 sq ft laboratory, advanced manufacturing and office development aimed at scientists, engineers and innovators within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.

The building will occupy a site on the northwestern corner of the Harwell campus, next to phase one of the development, Tech Edge 1 & 2, which is currently being built by Feltham Construction.

The client is The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus Limited Partnership – a joint venture of Brookfield, the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Its project team includes architect Scott Brownrigg, project manager Bidwells, building services engineer Etch Associates, civil & structural engineer Baynham Meikle and quantity surveyor Tetra Tech.

The architect explained how the design of a sawtooth roof “both unifies and defines nine individual mid-tech units, each benefitting from a private entrance and views out across extensive landscaping to the south”.  Use of modulated brise soleil on south-facing glazed facades and polycarbonate on north-facing facades optimises natural light, manages solar gain and minimises artificial light spill to the surrounding environment. The buildings serrated profile creates space for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels onto southwest facing sections of the roof.

With construction now started on site, Tech Foundry West is expected to complete in early 2026.

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