Sciontec to open Central Tech in May
Formerly billed as Sensor City, the 27,000 sq ft Copperas Hill building has been acquired by the development vehicle from University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.
Within the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool innovation district, the offer is described by Sciontec as a “new urban technology building” being taken forward following fresh investment and refurbishment.
The goal is to create a global hub for innovation in health, life sciences, technology and digitalisation, utilising the ultrafast LCR Connect network.
Under the two universities’ stewardship, the eyecatching Sensor City development was originally completed by Kier Construction in 2017. A £2m upgrade programme was trailed in late 2022, with the intention from that stage being that ownership would be transferred.
At present, the building is vacant, and will be revamped ahead of May’s reopening under its new name.
Located near to Liverpool Lime Street and Central stations, Central Tech stands adjacent to LJMU’s Student Life and Sport Buildings, which opened in 2021, giving customers access to the university’s facilities, as well as other nearby retail and leisure.
Each customer in the building can also tap into the Academic Support & Knowledge ASK initiative, which connects them to a specialist team or expert at one of the universities to support their work.
Professor Mark Power, vice-chancellor at LJMU and chair of Sciontec, said: “Sciontec has worked closely with the Sensor City company and the key grant funders, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to bring this important facility back to life, with vital new investment.
“This landmark deal with our Universities, City Council and private sector partner Bruntwood SciTech will mark an exciting transformation in the city’s innovation and technology infrastructure. We are confident that CENTRAL TECH will help to create high value jobs in health, science and technology and bring growth to the City Region.”
Trish Wallace, strategic projects and people manager at Sciontec, said: “Liverpool City Region is rapidly becoming a superpower in health and life sciences innovation, so we are pleased to announce our plans to reopen the building and invite anyone that would like to see the space for themselves to contact us.”
Sciontec is the Knowledge Quarter development company owned by the two universities, Liverpool City Council and Bruntwood SciTech, described as “a triple helix partnership committed to growing the knowledge economy to drive inclusive growth”.
A refurbishment programme was instigated in 2022. Credit: Sciontec
Central Tech will join the growing Sciontec portfolio of innovation facilities, which already includes the three Liverpool Science Park innovation centres, iC1, iC2 and iC3, as well as serviced space offer Sciontec AI at The Spine and the planned Hemisphere One and Two buildings at Paddington Village.
Morgan Sindall has this week been named as main contractor for the £61m Hemisphere One, with work to start this autumn. Carter Jonas has now been named as agent on Hemisphere Two, which will follow at a later date.
Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for growth and economy, said: “This announcement of new investment is fantastic news for the city’s Knowledge Quarter and a huge vote of confidence in our blossoming life sciences sector.
“This building will be an amazing facility and builds on the recent multi-million pound boost for our plans to continue the development of nearby Paddington Village. This kind of investment attracts high quality businesses and high skilled, well-paid jobs and I’ll be delighted to see CENTRAL TECH open its doors.”
Sciontec hopes to enjoy similar success to its takeover of Liverpool Science Park in 2020, which has seen occupancy levels improve significantly and increased retained profits, with the three Science Park buildings now operating near to full capacity and more than £1m recently invested at LSP.
Chris Oglesby, chief executive of Bruntwood SciTech, said: “The acquisition of Sensor City marks a significant milestone in ours and Sciontec’s ongoing commitment to further enhancing innovation and growth within Knowledge Quarter Liverpool.
“CENTRAL TECH will serve as a dynamic hub for health, life sciences, technology and digitalisation, while continuing to drive high-value job creation and contributing to the economic growth in this vibrant region.”
This building is too good to be laying dormant is in an excellent strategic location too.
Plenty of land behind the Adelphi Hotel crying out for redevelopment as well.
By Anonymous
Great to see this fantastic building brought to life again. I have very fond memories of it’s concept to use.
By Liverpolitis
We need better quality design in Liverpool. Most of what has been built over the past 20 years is very mediocre and not worthy of a city like Liverpool.
By John