Canary Wharf Group (CWG) and Kadans Science Partner are submitting a detailed planning application for a 823,000 sq ft, 23-storey, commercial health and life sciences building at Canary Wharf, London.
The joint venture partners say the Pedersen Fox Associates-designed ‘vertical campus’ will be Europe’s largest and most technologically advanced life sciences facility.
The tower will be built at Canary Wharf’s North Quay where outline planning consent has already been secured for a wider scheme on the 3.5 hectare site, which has the capacity to deliver 3.5m sq ft of laboratory and affiliated spaces.
The building will use heat pumps and heat recovery systems to minimise greenhouse gas emissions and the joint venture partners are targeting BREEAM Excellent, with an aspiration to achieve BREEAM Outstanding for the lab and office areas. The partners are also targeting WELL Platinum.
Shobi Khan, CEO of CWG, said: “We have been developing our vision for a world-class life sciences hub at Canary Wharf since 2019, and this is a significant milestone in our journey. Canary Wharf offers an unrivalled and exceptional environment with access to great transport, over 80 cafes, bars, and restaurants, 20 acres of green spaces and 5km of waterside boardwalks, as well as access to a wide range of amenities including open-water swimming, go kart racing and an award-winning arts and events programme. This project will continue the transformation of Canary Wharf, providing a sustainable, mixed-use environment for the next generation of life science offices.”
Michel Leemhuis, CEO of Kadans Science Partner, added: “Kadans prides itself on being a leading contributor to the evolution of the life sciences sector and this impressive new building at North Quay is a great example of how we are driving the development of innovative state-of-the-art lab buildings. By capitalising on our previous experience and using lessons learned, we are able to make a significant step forward in the development of life science buildings. It marks a step change in the way ecosystems for knowledge-intensive businesses are designed and developed.”
Elie Gamburg, design principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, said: “Connection breeds innovation – great discoveries often result from the confluence of ideas among seemingly disparate disciplines. For North Quay, we sought to design a spatial ecosystem to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in a dense urban environment. Traditional lab buildings have been low-rise campuses, but North Quay generates an innovative new paradigm – the vertical campus. Technical areas and social spaces are intermingled in a sustainable development that provides a dynamic place for discovery and invites the public in. An active waterfront, reinterpreting the Quayside docks, is created for an evolving Canary Wharf.”
