Global Tech Cities: Report Part 1 from Cambridge Science Park

Image :Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner , speaking at Future Cities Forum's 'Global Tech Cities' at the Bradfield Centre

Future Cities Forum welcomed leaders in science and innovation as well as city governance to its forum 'Global Tech Cities' hosted by the Cambridge Science Park. The first panel discussion tackled issues around future UK government investment in 'Silicon Fen', methods for attracting private capital for start-ups and science parks, sustainable design of innovation districts and how the expected changes to the UK planning system will help growth in the region and especially with much-needed housing.

Back in January this year the UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, vowed to go “further and faster” to kick start the economy, as she unveiled new plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor that will boost the UK economy by up to £78 billion by 2035 according to industry experts.

But in August, Cambridge City Council reported that the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) had confirmed:

'that funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund will not be made available to support the delivery of Anglian Water’s Waste Water Treatment Plant relocation from the current site on Cowley Road in north east Cambridge. The decision follows costs of the relocation increasing significantly as a result of rising costs of materials and labour and disruption to global supply chains, an increase that MHCLG said was unaffordable. As a result of this decision, Cambridge City Council and Anglian Water’s proposals for the new ‘Hartree’ development on the current site, which would form the heart of a proposed new district in North East Cambridge, will not be able to be delivered.'

This announcement prompted questions about the UK government's commitment to 'Silicon Fen' but with the recognition that the current economic pressures might be in some way to blame.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner, Mayor of Heidelberg was invited to join Future Cities Forum on this occasion to provide economic comparisons and insights into his city's growth in innovation districts and how planners have been able to integrate sustainable transport and housing.

Jane Hutchins, Director of the Cambridge Science Park, gave her vision at the start of the panel discussion for the vision of how the park is to grow. It is an important time for the park at the start of a new five-decade long expansion, through investment by Trinity College, Cambridge, in which 'the park of the future' will be built.

Jane said:

'Cambridge Science Park was the first in Europe, founded in 1970 by Trinity College the landowner - you may have spotted some of our 'heritage' buildings, really shabby now and an example of how experimental it was. It shows the vision that the then bursar, John Bradfield, who looked to transform an ageing farm - given to the college by King Henry VIII in 1546 to feed and produce revenue for the college - into a science park. We go for 'brain food' now.

'We have been at the centre of the Cambridge success in science and technology commercialisation over the last 50 years. It's the continued success and also the contribution to the national economy that is so attractive to businesses, inward investment and start-ups from all over the world who want to be here. That brings challenges on housing them and on infrastructure - and it's very good with have Peter Freeman of the Cambridge Growth Company with us today who is at the heart of looking at the future of that with Robert Pollock, Chief Executive of the city council.

'What we need to do as a science park is to continue to provide revenue for Trinity. but also provide benefit for the wider city, and we are very aware that we don't act in isolation. Our plans are very ambitious and are based on need. We are not doing these 'on the back of an envelope' or because they are pretty or because we can make a fast buck. As owners Trinity are the opposite end to the 'fast buck' spectrum.

'We have 170 companies here spread over 60 buildings. Not all are owned by Trinity College, which owns thirty per cent. We have eight companies on long leases as well as four owner occupiers like Royal Society of Chemistry and Cambridge Consultants who built their own premises. We therefore have a lot of stakeholders to consult. We are in the midst of a public consultation on an outline master-plan.

'Cambridge Science Park never had one before as we were an experiment. We will always be here to facilitate the intersection between the commercial and the academic, but we have grown piece-meal. The master-plan is trying to help us grow from 2.3 million square feet to 10 million over 30 years. This represents significant growth in density but we are aware that the green places need to more welcoming to both tenants and the public. It must not look like 'goblin city' for scientists only.

'We are very proud of the Cambridge Science Centre which provides great educational benefit for children, and supported by Brockton Everlast. We have to capture people at a young age in STEM subjects and not see this falling away, typically after 14 years of age. The master-plan is based on massing with fewer buildings and moving away from the driver-driven building. The vision is predicated on talent attraction and not just the companies. We have plans for a second site beyond the A14 on green belt. There is a shortage of development sites for advanced manufacturing and creation of personalised medicine and we need these locally as there are not enough facilities. Two thirds will be dedicated to a country park in perpetuity and closer to us here there will be lower density buildings for manufacturing.

Eckart responded to Jane's introduction, with a description on how Heidelberg has achieved a high standard of environment for start-ups and growing science companies, and has been copied by China for its design of its new innovation district, Bahnstadt:

'Thank you to Heather for the invitation and it was very good to hear from Jane as we in Heidelberg are twinned with Cambridge. It's also very good to be on a panel here with Robert (Evans) from Wellcome Genome Campus as we have the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in common in both places. It is the best place - Cambridge or Heidelberg- to create a better future.

'Let me give you some background on the person standing here. I am a bit of a fossil (!). I started as an environmentalist forty years ago when I wrote a handbook with colleagues from the OECD on urban energy management. At that time it was the first time OECD had an urban affairs division which was closed later on. However, I think it's very important that those with the knowledge should create the future. There is no better place in countries like the UK or Germany than the power of knowledge in the ancient university towns of Oxford, Cambridge and Heidelberg. All the development is based on innovation globally. It's perfect to start in a small city....In China I was asked how many Nobel prize winners does the small city of Heidelberg have? I responded - fifty six!

'Beijing has now built a city called Bahnstadt as we in Heidelberg built a new climate neutral district 15 years ago with the same name. China copied it and tried to work together with us on climate change projects. Cities like Cambridge and Heidelberg are leading on new technologies and on climate strategies, because we are based on an international knowledge community. This is made up of peaceful, collaborative people working together in the labs and drinking beer together. If you don't feel comfortable and safe as a international scientist in a city you will leave

.

'Heidelberg has the lowest number of pupils leaving school without educational qualifications, and we have the biggest refugee camp in the region of 80,000 near our city. We are not fighting that. For the role of technology parks and knowledge clusters we look for collaboration. We are bridging with Silicon Valley, with EMBL in Hinxton, in Taiwan on semi-conductor expertise and we are setting up a new hub with Asia. Doing all this creates huge potential.

'We need affordable housing though, as Heidelberg is the number one city in Germany for start-ups per capita. Seventy per cent of our housing is affordable. We are becoming the biggest building owner. with nearly sixty per cent owned by the city. We support science and tech parks. The topic of who is the landlord is very important. There has been six to seven billion euros of investment put in over ten years so that we could own the land, build and then sell some holdings, but we could control who was coming - with the agreement they must build climate neutral buildings.

'The biggest problem in the past was that scientists were not interested in production but rather in publishing. There has been a big change over last ten years. For instance, EMBL has been asking what can we do with our IP? We have to stop losing companies to the US. In Heidelberg now part of the IP (intellectual property) from discovery has to be given back to the city. The cities play a big role as landlords as in Germany the universities do not own space. In Germany there is an approach to funding university projects from federal government that we call 'Die Gießkanne' which means watering can! This stems from project funding being scattered among personal contacts, randomly across different cities.'

Image: first panel discussion at 'Global Tech Cities' with (left to right) Ross McWatt, Director, Scott Brownrigg, Artem Korolev, Director, Mission Street, Robert Pollock, Chief Executive, Cambridge City Council, Jane Hutchins, Director, Cambridge Science Park, Heather Fearfield, Co-founder, Future Cities Forum, Prof. Dr. Eckart Wurzner, Mayor of Heidelberg, Robert Evans, Chief Executive, Wellcome Genome Campus and Eugene Sayers, Partner, Sheppard Robson.

Following both presentations, Future Cities Forum began its first panel discussion by asking Robert Pollock, Chief Executive of Cambridge City Council, whether with regards to recent cancellation of developments such as Hartree, that the UK government was retreating from its support of 'Silicon Fen':

'I don't know if the Government is retreating, but the Mayor of Heidelberg made important points about civic culture and how it operates with a single unitary authority. It runs a number of large unitarian authorities to enable infrastructure. Here the system is much more concentrated on central government which has the power to bequeath land to a college.

'I think in the Chancellor's speech in the November budget we will see a push for growth around the OxCam corridor, but the Government has been in a difficult position where capital has been constrained. I do think it is really important that areas in the UK have more authority like in Heidelberg to invest locally. If we had stronger municipal powers we could have more of the Heidelberg structure and shape.

He was then asked about the issue of drug pricing and how that had affected development by AZ and Merck:

'Sir Patrick Vallance has already made a statement about this, but it did look like a co-ordinated series of actions by the drug companies. The cancellation of Hartree was a difficult decision not least because it was to support eight and a half thousand homes, but Trinity is not going to be held back by that decision.'

Robert answered a question about the opposition to the proposed Cambourne Busway and how that kind of transport infrastructure issue might be holding development back:

'It would be interesting to know how Heidelberg plans for infrastructure. The Cambourne Busway as a project is now over eleven years old and it is supposed to help a new settlement that will be the largest town outside Milton Keynes. We really do need affordable accommodation in west Cambridgeshire. I can understand the objections but everyone who opposes it does nevertheless agree that there needs to be better transport, otherwise Cambridgeshire will be held back.'

Image: Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton - eleven miles to the south of Cambridge, courtesy of Wellcome

The question of developing new models of investment for growth was then put to Robert Evans, Chief Executive of the Wellcome Genome Campus:

'I was in Heidelberg last week talking to BioLab who we are developing a new relationship with and at a conference which had a two-way pitching process between investors and companies, and what I noticed was a really thriving eco system, but still with some of the issues as in the UK, of how difficult it is to start and grow a company.

'You are right to ask about money. We seem to be doing alright here on research and development but after series A fund-raisings the numbers drop off a cliff. Companies are disappearing and following VC money. It seems easier in the US still to start and grow a company and the situation here seems to be getting slightly worse. There is a trend towards venture builders where they host companies on their own premises and can share HR, finance functions and back office. That is on the rise and happening in Europe as well. How can we start building a home grown version? Interestingly these venture builders are rooted in 'places' and the magnet of cities like Boston are so strong.

'I think we could do more with Europe to work together, linking all these smaller eco systems. I am not sure what the UK government could do to help, perhaps putting seed money in with other money? Perhaps something around the risk reward equation to make things easier.'

Above: Gateway Building Cambridge Science Park - courtesy Scott Brownrigg

One of the issues of growing science companies according to Ross McWatt, Director, Scott Brownrigg, is building flexible spaces: for them.

'We have created a good science park here which is really successful. It is great having a number of buildings doing the same thing but how flexible can you be? You need to move them on as they grow. Then you get to the stage where you don't have the space. If we retain companies on the park, there are options, you can build something new. We always want to look at existing buildings but life sciences is changing at a fast pace. Trying to manage this means it is easier to design a new building that can last 100 years, as opposed to adapting some of those already in existence, which may last for only perhaps another 20 years. We must look at what we have built and learn lessons. There is a now stock of labs, but what we have noticed with the tenants coming along, is that they want something that hasn't been predicted. It's a tension of providing a flexible building for a long time to come.'

Scott Brownrigg has been working on new buildings for the Cambridge Science Park - Plot 1-21 - which the firm believes offers more flexible options:

'We were briefed to create a new gateway to Cambridge Science Park, the county’s first dedicated technology estate. We focused on attracting high tech and Research & Development companies to the Park, creating a brand new vision for Cambridge.

'Our two building design creates a flexible option for both single or multi-tenant occupancy – featuring a colonnade which sweeps across the front, echoing the curve of the spine road. The column spacing guides occupants and visitors to the entrance, with wider spaced columns emphasising the entrance area and denser columns protecting the office space. Highly glazed facades connect the working environment to the landscaped setting.

'Our BREEAM Excellent rated design lays the entrance colonnade fins flat against the side elevations, creating the façade system. These are broken down into smaller masses to create a sense of rhythm, whilst enabling daylight to flood in to the office floors. As well as creating a new public realm space between the two buildings, our design gives transparency to the buildings and supports the sustainable agenda.'

Image: Melbourn Science Park, South Cambridgeshire, courtesy of Sheppard Robson

Sheppard Robson's Partner, Eugene Sayers, joined the panel discussion to speak about the issue of inheriting existing buildings on science parks, while designing in new concepts of biophillia and nature. Sheppard Robson has been working at Melbourne Science Park in South Cambridgeshire and on a new transport hub at St John's Innovation Park, close to the Cambridge Science Park:

Eugene commented:

'Very often when we design, we are building with a legacy from the 70s and 80s, and the car is the first challenge that we meet. We have to project ourselves into the future. There has to be a different way of arriving at the buildings. What we are hoping in 25 years is that transport systems are improved and that last mile will mean you won't need the car park. So we are shrinking the footprint and making the surroundings of buildings really attractive with landscaping.'

Sheppard Robson states:

'Bruntwood SciTech’s 10-year masterplan will bolster Melbourn Science Park’s existing reputation within the world-renowned Cambridgeshire life science and tech cluster, as well as providing a village green for the local community to share. Featuring biophilic, sustainable and wellbeing-orientated flexible design, the project will include the refurbishment of three existing buildings, alongside six new builds to offer coworking, leased, and managed lab and office space to accommodate the region’s burgeoning life science and tech sector from start-ups through to international R&D centres of excellence.

'Designs are targeting net zero carbon in construction and operation following a transformation project that will retain as much of the existing fabric of the Park’s buildings as possible. 3,450 tonnes of embodied carbon, the amount of carbon emitted during construction, will be saved by linking the heating and cooling network between the buildings in a state-of-the-art fourth-generation heat network connected to all-electric air source heat pumps.

'The Park will be 100% electric, targeting EPC A Ratings across its buildings, and 600sqm of solar panels will be installed across the Park’s roof space. Blue-green roofs will be installed on five of the new buildings, with an approximate size of almost 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools, to ensure water drainage is sustainable and to support the campus’ biodiversity.

'The St John’s Innovation Park masterplan includes super-flexible buildings, offering a range of office and R+D spaces, with the design defining a new civic square at the heart of the development. Our designs include two new office buildings, as well as a transport hub, in North East Cambridge. The buildings sit next to a newly created and extensively landscaped public space, with their entrances addressing the green surroundings.

'The design of the building—for client St John’s College with development manager Turnstone Estates—features a strong, simple architectural form, which is animated by a series of external cutaways. This architectural approach is illustrated by the design of the Dirac Building with three cutaways adding dynamism and external amenity spaces to the building.

Image: Fabrica in Oxford West End - courtesy of Mission Street

Developer Artem Korolev, the CEO of Mission Street, was asked whether science clusters and buildings could thrive without a definite 'USP'. He said:

'Our business model has been that of a move away from the traditional science park concept to shift R&D into a district of a city. That was driven by a number of points and one of those is to attract talent, which is why developed buildings at Oxford's West End station district. We drew companies away from the Oxford Science Park, as many of those employees live in London and therefore wanted to locate next to the station, to make it an easier commute. You don't have to drive to get to the city amenities and employees like that. You are part of a wider urban environment rather than in distinct position. Buildings do need to have a brand, however. Some years ago there was a bit of a bubble in life sciences development and it was all about getting an Oxford and Cambridge postcode and the buildings looked all the same.

'We differentiate by thinking about target companies for our buildings. Our first phase in Oxford called Inventa is aimed at Series A and B companies who are evolving out of incubator space, such as the Oxford University BioEscalator. Fifty per cent at Inventa is let to biotech businesses and the other to AI companies and that mix has evolved from where we started. Our second phase is a much bigger new build called Fabrica which targets businesses at the next stage of growth and we are talking with a bigger listed company about taking a whole floor. We have to look at where buildings fit into the ecosystem. We won't attract every type of company. There are some uses which are much more suited to being out-of-town and then there are those who need a budget solution.'

Above: view from Heidelberg's Congress Centre to residential part of Bahnstadt

Mayor Eckart was asked about the process that Heidelberg went through designing the sustainable innovation district of Bahnstadt. He responded:

'The main idea was that we wanted to build a 'science city' in a city. It was huge brownfield site - railway land, station and sidings - in the middle of the city, so rather ideal. We wanted to bring scientists with their labs into the city along with pubs, amenities and living areas. We did not want single storey private houses but discussed the importance of four and half storey blocks for living accommodation and relation to green spaces. We said fifteen years back it should be a 'swamp city' so that no water would be lost into the river. So we created water pods to drain all water on the spot and that was the environmental strategy. It had to be dense in housing terms in order to support a mass transit system. The rest we decided should be based on liveable pedestrian areas where kids can grow and play. We planted 3,500 trees and the idea was to create a climate neutral city. The knowledge is available to do this. If flats are too expensive, you fail. The mix must work. We now have a campus in the city with 6,500 people working and 10,000 living there so it is integrated - it is not science park 'over there' and living 'over here'.

Wellcome Genome Campus' Robert Evans then described how the growth of Hinxton ten miles to the south of Cambridge is being planned:

'It includes housing but has a strong focus on expansion into translation of science from discovery to commercial uses. The campus is owned by Wellcome and the profits are all ploughed back into UK science. We know the income profiles of all the workforce so we can match the rent to incomes. It's going from a gated workplace into a small town with a potential 12,000 people. We are effectively making a new town that isn't on the list of new towns. We want every kind of housing at Hinxton from co-living, starter homes, family homes through to older living. Whether you are coming to the campus for 6 months or 6 years plus we will have the housing available. There is a perception in the local communities that we are there to make money from housing. That is not the case. Wellcome is doing it because it sees a solution to the housing problem. We also have record numbers of job applicants from the USA, so we plan to make housing as well as jobs available.

Cllr Peter McDonald, Cabinet Lead for Economic Development at South Cambridgeshire District Council reinforced Roberts remarks:

'We wanted WGC to be the 'Biotech Bournville' integrating a closeness between workplace, amenities and housing. The residents are getting there in understanding this...and it's a good example of community engagement and buying into the vision.'

Gary Clark of HKS Architects commented from the audience:

'As there is a lack of space for production in the UK, and Europe, do you agree that we will be stuck in the front end research loop? It's a weak point as there is a lack of space and firms like AstraZeneca and Merck are holding back.'

Robert Pollock responded:

'Hartree - which has been cancelled - would have been an exemplary (mixed-use) campus like Bahnstadt and the Wellcome Genome Campus. However we have 35,000 homes with planning permission and four thousand square feet of lab space with planning permission here in Cambridge - that's equivalent to 56 FIFA football pitches...it is not the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service that is holding things back. It is really up to the developers, investors with their engineers and architects to buy into these opportunities.'

Jane agreed that there had been some valuable thinking and commentary on the panel and summed up by saying:

'We have some very good developments happening here with new housing such as at Waterbeach, but it's not just about revenue, it is about people. We are having more joined-up conversations, and being more integrated about what is happening across the Arc to Oxford. We all want it to happen at greater speed. We had some Chinese infrastructure investors here in the summer and they said 'the UK has a major problem with infrastructure...let us come and do it for you.'

My Chinese contact at TUSPark which invests in the Cambridge Science Park explained to them that development is more complex in the UK! I am optimistic about what we do here in Cambridge and on the future of impacting the life chances of so many people and the longer I am in Cambridge, I know it's a good direction of travel.'

Image below: The Mayor of Heidelberg, Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner talking to Fred Pilbrow, Pilbrow & Partners and Simon Payne of Lambsquay Consulting

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Image above: The Bradfield Centre, Cambridge Science Park