Design of a life sciences center in London,
A team has been selected to design a new £350m Life Sciences Center near London Bridge, led by developers including architects DSDHA and Perkins & Will.
Design Features
The project backer Guy’s & St Thomas has selected international investment group Oxford Properties and developer Reef Group as preferred development partners to deliver the 28,000 square meter Snowsfields Quarter.
The architects will work with Reef Group’s interior design team, UrbanR, which is led by Sam Potter, Make’s sole partner.
Located in Rogers’ Stirk Harbor & Co., the project is a three-block adjacent to the six-year-old Gay Cancer Center.
The sale of a long-term lease for the 0.36-hectare site will not pass to Oxford Properties, until planning permission for the project is obtained.
New laboratories, a research and design space, as well as a home for “successful projects that emerge from world-renowned hospitals and research institutions in the region” will also be included in the proposals.
The plans have been described as a ‘core part’ of the region’s emerging SC1 Life Sciences and Innovation District whose partners have included the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.
Design Location
The Snowfields site is located 1.5 miles from another major Guy’s & St Thomas development project:
the AHMM-led Royal Street scheme.
The six-block complex behind St Thomas’ Hospital on London’s South Bank,
which is being developed by Stanhope and Baupost Group.
The Foundation is a charitable organization with an endowment of nearly £1 billion in assets including land and property with a “mission to support better health for all”.
Although the organization works closely with Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust,
it is an independent body.
Chief Executive Officer Kieron Boyle said: “We have had an incredible level of interest in Snoeze Fields and our long-term vision to contribute to the growing life sciences group in our home in central London.
Design of a life sciences center in London
We believe we have found like-minded partners at Oxford Properties and Reef Group,
whose approach and proposals align with our ambitions to create innovative spaces that support life-enhancing medical developments
that improve lives both locally and beyond.
As Reef Group CEO Stuart Deering said: “Snowsfields will be a versatile,
flexible and dynamic scheme, with luxury, comfort, collaboration and innovation at its heart.
The development also provides an exciting opportunity to create state-of-the-art facilities that provide space
for the fast-growing and dynamic life sciences sector, now and in the future.
The designers’ focus is on creating vibrant urban spaces for life sciences operators to ensure that these exciting
and dynamic ecosystems can thrive and grow, while strengthening and contributing to local communities.
“The proposals will sensitively integrate and contribute positively to the local community,
prioritizing health, wellbeing and social impact, including a series of spaces that will connect the community directly to science,” he added.
The team also said the planning request would be submitted to Southwark Council “in due course after engagement with stakeholders”.
The Reef Group has won approval to convert an underground car park in Cavendish Square,
Mayfair, into a £100m ‘luxury-focused’ underground center in 2020.
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