Stanton Williams has been appointed to draw up plans for a 300,000 sq ft building “with the potential to support innovation and life sciences businesses” at Canada Water in London.
The architect was selected by joint venture development partners British Land and AustralianSuper thank to its strong track record of delivering life sciences projects, including winning the Stirling Prize for Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge.
The building is part of the second phase of the Canada Water masterplan, with the first phase already underway. As part of the first phase, the JV partners are delivering the Paper Yard (pictured), which offers circa 30,000 sq ft of modular lab space located next to TEDI-London, a new engineering higher education enterprise co-founded by three global universities: King’s College London, Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney.
The new modular lab space will take just under nine months to build and will be ready for occupation in May. The JV partners said the building was already “seeing positive early interest from occupiers across the life sciences sector”.
Emma Cariaga, joint head of Canada Water at British Land, said: “We have an incredibly rare opportunity at Canada Water to reimagine an entire district for London. Our vision is to create a diverse and exciting neighbourhood rooted in innovation – somewhere that businesses can be inspired to grow and where people will put down roots.
“Delivering up to 2.5m sq ft of highly sustainable business and innovation workspace across the masterplan, Canada Water is in prime position to cater to the growing number of life science and innovation businesses requiring new, high-specification lab space, supporting the aims of the government’s newly published Science and Technology Framework which pinpoints these burgeoning sectors as a crucial driver of economic growth.
“Canada Water presents a compelling proposition for prospective occupiers, on account of its vibrant, well-connected central London location which benefits from being in close proximity to three leading teaching and research hospitals including Guy’s Hospital in London Bridge; St Thomas’ Hospital in Waterloo and King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill.”
Richard Wardle, director at Stanton Williams, added: “We are delighted to be part of British Land’s ambitious regeneration of Canada Water. This is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the creation of a vibrant and collaborative environment that will foster innovation and nurture a new sense of community in the heart of the post-industrial Southwark Docks.”
