Bristol’s science sector provides great potential for economic growth. However, its needs have not been met by the property market.
What did we do? We provided planning advice to help our client – Science Creates – open two facilities in central Bristol to address this issue. By transforming existing buildings in Old Market and St Philips, our client now provides 45,000 sq ft of laboratory, office and event space as well as cutting-edge instrumentation to support growing deep tech companies.
Formerly a vacant warehouse building, the St Philips incubator facility was set up in 2017 in response to a lack of premises and support for science companies. It is now home to some of the city’s most innovative science and engineering companies. By 2019 it was full, with 37 member companies, 80% affiliated to Bristol University.
So Nash Partnership and Science Creates collaborated again to define premises requirements and find a suitable location for a second incubator facility. This was challenging, due to planning policy encouraging the redevelopment of industrial floorspace and high development values. The area has a shortage of existing industrial space for leasehold and freehold for anything in the region of >10,000 sqft – so there was strong competition for any new sites becoming available.
With Science Creates, we assessed a range of sites before identifying a building in Old Market. A change of use was needed rapidly to secure the deal. This was achieved within 8 weeks through collaboration between Nash, Science Creates, Bristol City Council and Old Market Community Association.
Why did we re-use the buildings? Both science facilities represent the highly sustainable, innovative re-use of existing vacant buildings. With the buildings originally constructed from concrete and steel, they already contained high levels of embodied carbon, so retaining them made perfect sense. In addition, their inner city location helps mitigate the issues associated with commuter carbon.
We advised on the challenges around change of use and the benefits of reusing these existing structures.
How did our client benefit? Stripping and refitting the existing structures was far faster than demolishing them and starting from scratch. This meant our client was able to open both facilities sooner than they otherwise would have. In addition, demolishing the structures would come with complex safety and materials requirements, adding carbon in the process.
Upgrades to the Old Market building improve the building’s interior and its appearance on the street.
Both incubators are now open. Designed, developed and run by our client’s specialist in-house team, they provide the resources needed for significant scientific innovation and business development in Bristol.
In partnership with the University of Bristol, Science Creates aims to establish the city as a global centre for deep tech – and, with its two new specialist incubator facilities, they’re well on the way to achieving that.
