PLANNING | Bruntwood SciTech secures Alderley Park expansion
Symphony Park’s plans for a 159-home luxury retirement block nearby were not so lucky.
Cheshire East Council chose to approve Bruntwood SciTech’s 200,000 sq ft commercial expansion of Alderley Park at its strategic planning board meeting on 1 March.
During the same meeting, the local authority also unanimously rejected Symphony Park’s proposals after a two-hour discussion. The decision was made contrary to officer recommendation.
But first, the good news.
Land at Mereside Campus
An additional 200,000 sq ft of lab and office space should be coming to Alderley Park now that Bruntwood SciTech has received planning permission for its campus expansion.
Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, is set to build two facilities at the park. The taller of the two will have six storeys, while the other will have five.
Between the two, they would offer 100,000 sq ft of CL2 lab space and another 100,000 sq ft of flexible offices. The new facilities are geared towards companies working in life sciences, healthcare, or technology sectors.
Avison Young is the planning consultant for the project. According to the planning application cover letter, Tyler Grange is the arboricultural and ecological consultant, while Booth King is the drainage strategist.
Buro Happold is energy advisor and Betts Hydro is flood risk assessor. NX Consulting is the ground conditions consultant. BWB is the air quality assessor. Vectos is the transport consultant.
The design team includes Planit-IE, Bridge Architects, Fairhurst Design Group, and RBA.
This would be the first new-build commercial space to be delivered on the site since Bruntwood SciTech acquired the estate in 2014.
Much of the developer’s focus since then has been on redeveloping existing properties. These projects have included the 150,000 sq ft Glasshouse, 35,000 sq ft No11 Mereside, and an additional 86,000 sq ft of new labs.
According to Bruntwood SciTech, the new lab and office buildings will enable the creation of up to 1,600 jobs in life sciences and tech.
“We’re excited to embark on the next chapter at Alderley Park and support the continued growth of the life sciences sector in the UK,” said Dr Kath Mackay, director of life sciences at Bruntwood SciTech.
“Today’s outcome marks a huge milestone for the park and highlights our commitment to providing best-in-class life sciences facilities to support science and technology businesses across the nation,” she continued.
The Alderley Park expansion’s planning application reference number is 22/3512M.
Calderpeel Architects designed the Heatherley Woods project for Symphony Park. Credit: via Symphony Park
Land at Heatherley Woods
Symphony Park, a new brand from the team behind Vita Group, will have to hold off on making its debut after Cheshire East councillors unanimously rejected its application for 159 luxury extra-care apartments in the Heatherley Woods section of Alderley Park.
Cheshire East councillors gave four reasons for refusing the project: an unsustainable location, over-development for the area, loss of residential amenity for the properties by Morris Drive, and lack of on-site affordable housing.
Symphony Park’s proposals had been designed by Calderpeel Architects and called for a series of residential blocks of up to six storeys in height. The blocks would have offered a mixture of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.
Proposed amenities include exercise studios, a well-being centre, a nail bar, a hair salon, a pool, and therapeutic treatment rooms – as well as an on-site restaurant, bar, and coffee lounge.
A nursing team and on-site GP practice would also be present on the property.
Wilmslow-based Layer.studio had designed the landscaped gardens that would have adorned the property.
Cheshire East’s planning officers had noted that the size of the apartment building could be problematic, as could the noncompliant affordable housing provision.
Officers did note that the development would provide contributions towards delivering key worker homes at Alderley Park and the tech park’s expansion. These benefits, they said, outweighed the negatives.
Councillors clearly disagreed.
Avison Young was the planner for the extra-care apartments. The project team also included highways consultant Vectos, planning needs assessor Carterwood, and noise and air quality expert BWB Consulting. Tyler Grange was the ecology, arboriculture, and landscape and visual impact consultant. TRP was the drainage expert.
The application reference number for Symphony Park’s project with Cheshire East Council is 22/2819M.
As the target market for the symphony extra care retirement living I can say it did not appeal to me or any of my friends. I live in the country not the town centre and want a smaller house with garden with neighbours of all ages. This looked like a one size fits all probably smaller student like bedrooms that our kids have had to overpay for at University. Vita/Bruntwood I think you have got the concept, design and scale wrong on this one for active wealthy retirees that can still get about. This massive block in an isolated location would suit a traditional nursing care home or smaller built for life houses.
By BabyboomerDeb
Totally agree with the comment made previously. This is far from appealing and we already have similar in the local area which are half empty. It’s a shame Alderley Park is trying to push this through.
By NOFX89