'Science Cities and New Towns' - report part one from our Stevenage forum

Above: the opening panel at 'Science Cities and New Towns'

Future Cities Forum's Stevenage event in May - hosted by the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst - was part of our 'Science cities' series which has included the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in September 2024. Contributions at Cambridge were from Peter Freeman, Chair of Homes England, King’s Health Partners and Imperial College Healthcare and at  Saïd Business School (Oxford) in January 2025, with Professor Chas Bountra, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation at Oxford University, Oxford Science Enterprises and the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Questions following on from our last Cambridge event - addressed at the Stevenage forum - included whether the new UK government is supporting innovation in science and technology development with appropriate funding and whether this key sector can help to lift the economy in 2025, especially in the area of life sciences and related manufacturing.

There was extensive debate around how to encourage science companies to re-locate to UK cities and towns against global competition and how the planning system can be speeded up as part of the attraction for both firms and talent. Debate focussed on Stevenage's success in this respect, and the story of how it has encouraged manufacturing as well as maintaining the town as an attractive place to live.

Contributors to the first panel included Tom Pike, Chief Executive of Stevenage Borough Council, Karl FitzGerald, Project Director at the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) - which is part of the Treasury and reports to the Cabinet Office - Andrew Fisher, Partner at David Lock Associates, Eugene Sayers, Partner and Head of Science at Sheppard Robson, Luke Spence, Partner at Price & Myers, Fred Pilbrow, Founding Partner at Pilbrow & Partners, and Kevin Cowin, Development Director at Mace Group who is leading on the SG1 project.

Karl FitzGerald, NISTA, was asked to comment on how Stevenage, the first of the post-war new towns with its formidable employment cluster including Airbus and GSK, might provide a blue print for the New Towns programme, and how better infrastructure delivery will address the time lag in providing transport and utilities for the housing of new settlements:

'It's a massive challenge particularly for the new towns programme and we don't know where the sites will actually be yet.

Brownfield sites may be well connected but greenfield will need a lot of effort spent on infrastructure of utilities - of power and water as well as roads...all this can suck away at your ability to look at other issues...including how to really make public transport work. We do need to transition to that.'

Karl was asked by forum Co-founder and facilitator Heather Fearfield: whether Stevenage was being overlooked by the UK government with the focus on OxCam Arc, despite the town and district's renown in cell and gene discovery as well as space and defence technologies?

'It's interesting to see what I will take away from Stevenage on this visit, as it is a long time since I have visited. Because of a GSK pharmaceutical research and manufacturing presence in Dublin where I grew up I was aware of Stevenage then.

I don't see why the success of Stevenage cannot leak into the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor.

Tom Pike, CEO of Stevenage District Council, was then asked how the station arrival compares with Oxford and Cambridge:

'Obviously we do not have 800 years of history to compete with Oxford and Cambridge but we have world class research and manufacturing companies here. The town centre development called SG1 has been progressing with Mace Group and then we expect an announcement soon from Homes England and the English Cities Fund on further investment. We expect that investment in the station development could support a large number of jobs. We could have waited ten years or so for government help with the station development, but we decided that this 'old new town' deserved and needed regeneration in the centre, so we got going on it.

'We also made a big effort to attract Autolus Therapeutics - a spin-out from Cambridge - that was growing quickly and needed manufacturing space. We bought a redundant car park and fast-tracked the planning application process which meant that a UK company with global reach could access affordable space in the UK.'

Tom was asked whether he was considering tall tower construction to enable a greater density of population and occupancy. He replied:

'We are working with the English Cities Fund. It's inevitable that there will be more density, there will be benefits from living in the middle of the district which will look different and feel different.'

Above: the Mace station gateway development site in central Stevenage

The Development Director behind the SG1 project at Stevenage, Kevin Cowin of Mace Group, joined the discussion answering a question as to whether Stevenage should develop a station district along the lines of CB1 in Cambridge, which has been a magnet for companies wanting well-connected office space.

'We have been involved from the early, early days with the Council from 6 to 7 years looking at the whole town. We had Covid hit us in 2020 and higher interest rates but nobody has taken a step back. Strategically it's a fabulous plan. It was retail-led originally and this had had to change with a greater mix of uses. We were told it could take ten years to remodel the station environment so we decided just to get on with. SG1 is a collaborative development spread over 14 acres but taking into account the station, and it is probably helping the station as the gateway project will encourage change to happen. The arrival gateway has to be transformational.'

The Joint Venture between Stevenage Borough Council and Mace was agreed in August 2024 in order to deliver Plot A of the SG1 regeneration project, with a commitment to deliver 262 new homes and commercial space in central Stevenage.

Phase 1A, the former Swingate House and Car Park, is the first phase of the SG1 transformation. The former Swingate House building has been demolished.

Andrew Fisher of David Lock Associates - who has worked extensively on the Stevenage regeneration plan, was asked to relate it to the proposed plans for new settlements:

'In the New Towns Programme there is a focus - understandably - on housing where 10,000 minimum standard for these - but a great danger that the focus is just on housing. What are we creating here? The real challenge is to think about mixed-use including employment which ought to be relevant to the place where the new town is created. Government needs to demonstrate that each new town is in a a sustainable location. Out of over 100 applications the government has said it will have started building twelve towns by the start of the next parliament which is extremely ambitious.'

Andrew was asked about the vital role of railway stations in new town development. He commented, noting the reference to how a potential new station at Tempsford in Bedfordshire - linking East West Rail with lines north and south to London - might help a new settlement there..

'Stations can be dividers or connectors so it is important not just to think about them as a piece of transport infrastructure but also how they can contribute to sense of place.'

Andrew led the work on the original Town Centre Framework, working with Stevenage Borough Council to translate that into Local Plan policy; and supporting them in the developer procurement process to secure a development partner (Mace) for the first phase of the town centre regeneration. 

Since then he has worked with the Council to update the plans in terms of the connections to the station, and in 2023, he led the preparation of the town's Levelling Up Fund bid which secured c. £40million investment from the government for Stevenage. 

At the same time Andrew has engaged with the science and innovation sector in Stevenage and on behalf of developer Mission Street and Kadans secured planning permission for Sycamore House which provides 103,000 sq ft of office and lab space to start ups, scale ups, and corporate companies in the Life sciences sector. 

Luke Spence, Partner at engineering practice Price & Myers joined the discussion to comment on his firm's work on the town centre life sciences quarter at Stevenage, and what special challenges arise when you are creating labs in urban environments with a retrofit approach - as the Crown Estate and Oxford Science Enterprises are doing via a remodelling of the Debenhams department store in central Oxford.

Luke said:

'Retrofit can be done on existing buildings to create new science labs but they are specialist buildings that require large floor plates, and a concrete structure - like that found at Debenhams in Oxford- is far more preferable than other materials. Many older buildings are not suitable. It's important to remember that much of the carbon will be from the operational life of a lab building as this sector is heavy energy user.

'For our Stevenage Life Sciences Quarter project, on the edge of the town centre, we have set out to keep embodied carbon of each building as low as possible.'

Price & Myers describes the town centre development:

'The Stevenage Life Science Quarter project is set to enhance Stevenage’s burgeoning status as an epicentre for life sciences in the UK, particularly in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Price & Myers have provided structural and civil engineering services for this ambitious project, which aims to revitalise the town centre while creating state of the art facilities for the life sciences sector.

'Its central location means the project must navigate various constraints including existing retail leases, surrounding buildings, a public car park replacement, and the logistical challenge of ensuring secured vehicle access for service yards. It also accommodates existing infrastructure while meeting the specific requirements of advanced research facilities.

'Central to the project are the Specialist Lab and Grad Lab buildings, designed to cater to the specific needs of the life science sector. These buildings share a common organisational structure but differ in their intended occupancy, with Specialist Labs designed for single tenants and Graduate Labs for multiple, potentially smaller or start-up companies. This distinction has influenced the buildings’ massing and the distribution of spaces, from public-facing retail and reception areas to specialised storage and service areas located specifically as to ensure efficient operation and clear separation of public and private functions.

'The upper floors house research and manufacturing levels, requiring high levels of servicing and an interstitial level for the distribution of services, plus a rooftop plant area. The Collaboration Building, while sharing lower-level arrangements with the lab buildings, is positioned to foster collaboration amongst the resident scientific community without the need for technical back-of-house areas, which also allows for more extensive retail spaces.

'Price & Myers’ approach to materiality and sustainability on the project is aimed at ensuring the scheme is both environmentally responsible and durable. High-quality sustainable materials have been chosen, with a focus on reducing embodied carbon through efficient design, prefabrication, and standardisation.

'The client, Reef, is an environmentally progressive organisation who approached Price & Myers because of its work on lowering the embodied carbon in our designs. They ensured the firm was involved with the project from the earliest stages so it could work closely with the architect during the initial massing studies when it can make the most impact through influencing the building grids and framing, while recognising the specific requirements of research and manufacturing laboratories.

During the discussion, Eugene Sayers of Sheppard Robson, was asked to describe how architects can help local communities to both appreciate and access the science and technology developments on their doorsteps .He also told the audience how Sheppard Robson had designed the original buildings of the GSK campus, adjacent to the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst:

'Community is very important. At Melbourn a village outside Cambridge we were asked to design a new science campus extension, and we suggested incorporating a village green into the project, as the village did not have one. This has been very successful.'

The developer, Bruntwood SciTech described planning permission for the Melbourn project in 2023:

Designed by architects Sheppard Robson, plans have been submitted to create 390,000 sq ft of world class laboratory and office workspace for approximately 75 life science and tech businesses, including new coworking space for start-up businesses, along with improvements to the facilities and amenities on the campus for both businesses based there and the local Melbourn community.

Following a 12 month Planning Performance Agreement with the Greater Cambridgeshire Planning Department and three public consultations, Bruntwood SciTech has revealed its vision and new artist’s impressions of the proposed masterplan, which will bolster Melbourn Science Park’s existing reputation within the world-renowned Cambridgeshire life science and tech cluster. Featuring biophilic, sustainable and wellbeing-orientated flexible design, the proposals include refurbishments of three existing buildings alongside six new builds which will 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.

A new event space is proposed as well as all buildings including new breakout space, showers, lockers and sports kit drying rooms. Transport provision will be improved with a mobility hub featuring a large secure cycle store with repair and maintenance stations, cycle hire, and a car park with electric vehicle charging points. A new 18 bedroom hotel and a gastro pub are also planned.

Above: CGI of Melbourn science park development (Courtesy Bruntwood SciTech)

Fred Pilbrow added his perspective on how a 'new piece of city' could best be designed with space for science R&D, in this case an urban extension on brownfield land on the north west edge of Cambridge

'We have been working with Land Securities on a former waterworks site to create a new piece of Cambridge. Today's forum has touched on a number of areas which relate well to what we found in our Hartree project with U + I and a master-planning team from Sweden.

'We can produce a genuine, mixed-use development - with residential, offices, lab space and leisure - drawing on the DNA of Cambridge. It is a historic city that is high density, low rise and good for pedestrians and cyclists, and we want to replicate that.'

'.I am really interested in the GMP - Good Manufacturing Practice guidelines as we have a Granta Park Cambridge-based client called Bicycle Therapeutics who have done terrifically well and raised over £800 million to support their precision-guided therapeutics. The peptides they have designed are manufactured in Italy and Germany, as there are currently only two places in Europe where these specific peptides can be made. However the company would very much like to produce these in the UK. Peptide factories needs big unencumbered floor plates and great connectivity to the end-users - a place like Stevenage would be great.'

Pilbrow & Partners has described its project for Bicycle Therapeutics:

'Bicycle Therapeutics in Cambridge reimagines the spaces in which scientists and researchers come together to discover new life-saving medical treatments. Reworking its web labs, write-up and administrative spaces, we created an agile, activities-based workplace, accommodating the rapid growth of this life sciences start-up. By removing a dense grid of compartment walls and establishing sight lines across a double-height entrance lobby, we increased the flexibility of the floorplans, creating bright workspaces, and enhancing connections across different departments. Existing laboratories were modernised in situ to retain existing service configurations, offering substantial time and cost savings.

'At the heart of the workspace, we created an informal meeting and collaboration zone with bespoke tiered seating, encouraging in-person collaboration between colleagues. In addition, we customised meeting rooms for remote collaboration between the company’s UK and US teams. Timber panelling and natural accents across the workspaces create a healthy, welcoming environment for employees and visitors alike, and to subtly brand the reception area, we created a bespoke graphic featuring the company’s global pharmaceutical patents, including its signature drug delivery proteins (‘bicycles’). To complement the office’s lofty entrance and reception area, we created a landscaped garden space to offer outdoor amenity and enhance user wellbeing.'

Future Cities Forum was grateful to the panellists for their insights into this important topic.

Above: CGI showing position of Hartree development in north east Cambridge, with neighbours the St John's Innovation Park and the Cambridge Science Park (Courtesy Land Securities / WeAreTown)

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