PLACES
Shaping UK innovation.
The Arc.
Partners Matt Jones and Miles Freeman share some of the pioneering spaces we’re helping to shape across the Arc.
LET'S TALK
HOARE LEA & THE ARC
Fundamental to the Government’s industrial strategy, the Arc is about creating the UK’s version of Silicon Valley. Stretching from Reading and Milton Keynes to Oxford and Cambridge, new and repurposed developments will enable an ‘arc’ of innovation to drive the UK’s growth. Drawing on our decades-long experience of designing cutting-edge projects that have given the Arc its strong foundations, we have already started to enhance, grow, and connect this innovation ecosystem.
Jaguar Land Rover.
Automotive advancement in Warwickshire.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is majorly redeveloping its HQ at Warwickshire's Gaydon site. With an ambition to create a high-performance sustainable centre for engineering, creative inspiration, development, and collaboration, the +$600 million investment has also led to major community growth in the local area. We have supported a variety of development projects, from the new purpose-built Research, Development & Technology Centre, to a Design Model Operations extension and Vehicle Testing facility. The JLR vision is for a world in which zero-emission vehicles, public transport, and self-driving pods will form one smart integrated and networked transport system, and all development projects are designed with a 'Destination Zero' approach.
Cambridge Airport Ground Run-up Enclosure (GRE).
Aircraft engine testing in Cambridgeshire.
This new aircraft engine testing facility at Cambridge Airport is one of the most advanced facilities globally. The main aspect is the world’s largest four-sided Ground Run-up Enclosure (GRE), which reduces the impact of the testing noise to the lowest possible levels. We used complex noise analysis techniques to calculate and predict potential spread of noise under different weather conditions. By developing a specialist software application, we were able to demonstrate the noise levels to the local authority and community, so that people and key decision makers could be reassured. After planning permission was granted, we were then re-commissioned to undertake a highly involved process of acoustic testing to confirm that this state-of-the-art installation was compliant.
ABCAM global HQ.
Life sciences in Cambridge.
This global headquarters in the centre of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus will help ABCAM write the next chapter of its Cambridge success story. At the heart of the move to the Biomedical Campus is collaboration, as it’s the largest life sciences research hub in the whole of Europe. This ethos of collaborative working mirrors our own. Throughout the project, our engineers worked closely with the various groups within ABCAM to create spaces that are specific to their needs, but importantly, are agile enough to ensure future flexibility. By developing a bespoke sustainability strategy in partnership with Cambridge City Council, we were able to exceed the planner’s sustainability targets, all while maintaining affordability and enhancing key features of this state-of-the-art people-led project.
Sky Studios.
Digital creativity in Elstree.
The Sky Studios Elstree project in Hertfordshire is set to create a 32-acre TV and film studio that acts as a world-leading production hub. It’s a testament to the rapidly blooming film industry in the UK, as well as the need for more high quality, original content to be created. Owned by Legal and General, the underutilised greenfield site on the edge of Borehamwood presented an opportunity for sought after studio space. Although the planning application was submitted early in the process, our specialists undertook front-end design in parallel. Not only did this improve confidence in the accuracy of the planning information, but will also make for streamlined detailed design as the project progresses. The new studio space will also play host to some incredible film productions from Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Working Title, and television series from NBC Universal Content Studios. Forecasted to create up to 2,000 jobs in the local area, it’s a huge opportunity for the UK creative industry… exciting times!
Beecroft Building.
Quantum computing in Oxford.
Arguably, the most exciting and transformative breakthrough of the 21st century will come from the world of quantum computing. With prototypes currently the size of a small room, the race is on to develop useable machines. Without doubt our most challenging project to date, the Beecroft Building is one of the world’s most demanding facilities, and is where quantum computers are being developed. We designed the near-impossible close-control climate systems needed alongside the ambitious vibration-control targets and use of low and zero carbon technologies. As the physics department’s first new building in 50 years, it’s now equipped for cutting edge science in the 21st century. Housing some of the brightest minds from across the world, we are proud to have played our part in creating this transformative building.
National Satellite Testing Facility.
Space exploration in Oxfordshire.
The UK’s National Satellite Test Facility (NTSF) is an incredible project that forms part of the next phase in the UK’s space capability expansion. Alongside laboratory and workshop spaces, the bespoke development is capable of accommodating space craft that weigh seven metric tonnes. Housing one of the largest thermal vacuum chambers and dedicated clean rooms in Europe, the facility will allow for a range of tough test conditions that replicate the launch and lifecycle conditions of a spacecraft. We worked closely with RAL Space, resolving the unique challenges of this complex project. By independently containing the spaces for vibration and acoustic testing, electromagnetic compatibility, centre of gravity testing, and pyroshock simulation, we were able to ensure two satellites can be tested in parallel within the building. We can’t wait to see this pioneering facility for the UK space industry open its doors in 2021.
Rosalind Franklin Institute.
Life sciences in Oxfordshire.
The Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI), will be a national centre of excellence at the Harwell Campus that will harness disruptive technologies such as AI and robotics to boost our understanding of biology. It’s one of the best examples of government, academic, and commercial collaboration. The building will serve a range of universities working alongside the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which is an independent organisation funded by the UK government through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. This unique building (with a design that draws upon the motifs in Rosalind Franklin’s x-ray diffracted DNA images) will unite industry experts with university researchers to embrace high-risk, adventurous research that will transform the way the UK develops new diagnostics, therapies, and medicines.
Illustration: Bek Cruddace, Hampshire