PLANS to build a hi-tech terrace at Harwell are being fast-tracked, as part of Oxford’s status as an enterprise zone The new building, which includes more than 2,700 sq metres of space, will be split into units that can be adapted to suit individual science and technology firms.

The sixth major development at Harwell campus, it can be fitted out for light engineering, research and development, laboratories and clean rooms.

Harwell’s 710-acre site houses more than 200 businesses from the aerospace, space, telecommunications, mechanical engineering, material science, cryogenics, biosciences, and automotive sectors.

More than 5,000 people work there and facilities include the giant microscope, Diamond Light Source synchrotron.

Our top stories

Work on the new hi-tech terrace will start early next year and should be finished by summer.

There are also plans for an innovation hub, discovery centre, restaurant and gym, as part of the enterprise zone masterplan to create a one-million square foot development with 200 new homes for staff, leisure facilities and a hotel.

Herald Series:

  • Duncan Rogers

Duncan Rogers, property and development director at Harwell Oxford, said: “Demand from the business and scientific community has been so strong that we have accelerated our plans to build a new hi-tech terrace and incorporate them into phase one of our master plan for the development of the wider campus.”

David Williams of Meeson Williams Phillips, one of the agents marketing the units, said: “We are already experiencing strong demand from businesses based elsewhere in the county, as well as national and international companies looking to forge strategic links with Harwell.”

Ian Wenman, deputy chair of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Harwell Oxford is a key part of our enterprise zone and a prime location for the potential future growth of our county.

“The site needs a development to do justice to its heritage as a site of scientific discovery and that is what the new hi-tech terrace sets out to do so well.”


Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.