Sci-Tech Daresbury submits £20m plans for labs, offices

Making up the second phase of the Halton science and technology campus’s Violet scheme, the plans call for two new three-storey buildings: V4 and V5.

Under Sci-Tech Daresbury’s plans, V4 and V5 would be speculatively built on a vacant plot at the northern end of the campus. If planning permission is secured, construction could begin early next year, with a target completion date of mid-2025.

If built, V4 would offer 23,000 sq ft of grade A office space suitable for companies working in the advanced engineering, healthcare, digital tech, and sustainability sectors. The facility would have floor plates of up to 6,000 sq ft on offer.

The second building, V5, would be the larger of the two. Coming in at 60,000 sq ft, V5 would boast dedicated lab space, as well as areas for collaborative working and an accessible roof terrace. Floor plates would range from 5,000 sq ft to 20,000 sq ft.

Because of its status as a lab space, the building would feature high ceilings, fume extraction, and external door access – making it ideal for companies in the life sciences, instrumentation, or materials development fields.

Both V4 and V5 have been designed by Seven Architecture to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. This would be accomplished through air-source heat pumps, solar panels, and green roofs. These green roofs, alongside the project’s landscaping strategy, would be capable of achieving 25% biodiversity net gain, according to Sci-Tech Daresbury.

The joint venture behind Sci-Tech Daresbury – which is made up of Langtree, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and Halton Council – said that this second phase of Violet could support 300 jobs, as well as deliver social value through skills opportunities during construction.

Spawforths is the planning consultant for Violet. Arup is the engineer.

Sci-Tech Daresbury is optimistic that Violet phase two will be as successful as its predecessor. The first phase, which boasted a price tag of £17.8m, completed in February last year. Made up of three buildings totalling 43,000 sq ft, the first phase is currently 83% occupied.

“Our campus is designed to be a ‘home for life’ and we need to provide larger laboratory and office facilities to ensure there is grow-on space for the businesses already within our community,” said John Downes, chief executive of Langtree and the chairman of Sci-Tech Daresbury.

Downes also clarified that Violet phase two is not only aimed at the more than 150 science and technology companies that currently call Sci-Tech Daresbury home.

“We also want to attract further investment from outside of Liverpool City Region,” he said. “Larger floorplates are especially attractive in the market and the next phase of Violet will complement the existing office, laboratory, and science facilities that we already have on the campus.

“The continuing expansion of Sci-Tech Daresbury is key to ensuring that companies can start and scale in the North without the need to relocate elsewhere, which would create significant disruption for them and bring the risk of losing key staff,” Downes continued.

“We also believe that investment in innovation capability goes straight to the heart of future-proofing the regional economy – it’s part of creating a highly skilled workforce, that generates high-value intellectual property.”

The Sci-Tech Daresbury campus is a National Science and Innovation Campus and was established in 2006. It sits off Junction 11 of the M56.