Laing O’Rourke lined up for £300m science institute

Laing O’Rourke has been lined up to build a £300m science park in Oxford.

According to planning documents filed with Oxford City Council, the company has been picked to act as the main contractor for a research campus called the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine.

The project will see 28,500 square metres of new development built across two sites adjacent to the Oxford Science Park in the south of the city. The development will include new lab space, as well as other facilities including a restaurant, workshops and offices.

Designed by architects Foster + Partners, the campus will act as a focal point for the study of cancer care, bringing together medical research, as well as technology, engineering, infectious-disease control and other specialisms to help advance the understanding of cancer and other medical issues.

Laing O’Rourke will act as the main contractor for both sites under two separate contracts. The documents outline plans to utilise low-carbon techniques for the construction of the science centre, with the development designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘excellent’ sustainability rating.

The Oxford Science Park was created by Magdalen College, a University of Oxford college, in 1991. It is home to research, engineering, technology and clinical expertise, and aims to be environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.

The Ellison Institute is backed by Lawrence Joseph Ellison, the founder of tech giant Oracle. The Oxford facility is the first to be built by the Ellison Institute outside of Los Angeles.

The Global Health Security Consortium (GHSC), a joint initiative of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the Ellison Institute and scientists at the University of Oxford, will be one of the projects based at the new campus. GHSC provides insight, analysis and support for world leaders to deal with COVID-19 and future health-security challenges.

The Ellison Institute acquired the 3.5-acre plot from Magdalen College through a 150-year land-lease arrangement in December last year.

The newly purchased property will connect with the adjacent 5.9-acre Littlemore House site, which it acquired in 2020.