Work begins on distinctive building to house £40m Aberdeen life sciences hub

Work has started on a £40 million life sciences innovation hub in Aberdeen.

The BDP-designed BioHub will feature a distinctive triangular layout, providing “efficient lab and office accommodation with good daylight”.

The double height south facing ground floor will offer collaborative workspaces and break out rooms with conferencing facilities as well as a cafe with adjacent external terracing and landscaping.

BDP was appointed to lead a multi-disciplinary design team, consisting of Hulley & Kirkwood and JGA, to design and deliver BioHub on the Foresterhill Health Campus – one of Europe’s largest integrated clinical, research, teaching and commercial health sites.

The BDP-designed BioHub in Aberdeen will feature a distinctive triangular layout, providing 'efficient lab and office accommodation with good daylight'.

The project is set to double the number of life science companies in the North-east and help the sector to collaborate, innovate and commercialise the next generation of therapies and healthcare technologies.

Christoph Ackermann, principal at BDP’s Glasgow studio, said: “This is an exciting and transformational project for Aberdeen and north east Scotland.

“BDP has a track record of delivering buildings that encourage industry engagement and collaboration, such as the Inovo and Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow.

“The BioHub project is another example of BDP’s expertise in this style of development, creating office and laboratory spaces for start-up companies under a single roof.”

The project, led by Opportunity North East (ONE), has secured £20m of capital funding jointly provided by the UK and Scottish governments via the Aberdeen City Region Deal. ONE has committed up to £5.6m to deliver BioHub’s sector growth objectives and has formed a new company, BioAberdeen Limited, to deliver BioHub. The other project partners are the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions