Planning approved for 140,000 sq ft of labs and offices on Hythe Bridge St

Forge_KN, a UBS and Reef joint venture, have had exciting plans approved to redevelop a gateway building adjacent to the station.

Bridge labs will deliver 140,000 sq ft of laboratories and office accommodation in the City Centre, replacing a 70’s office building and book storage facility known as Beaver House, with much needed, best-in-class flexible laboratories.

Forge_KN delivers and operates purpose-built accommodation for the knowledge sectors, from incubator to advanced manufacturing. In joining this platform, this Oxford site would sit alongside a network of other assets in Stevenage, Cambridge, Potters Bar and Boston Massachusetts.

The scheme will deliver key benefits for the City including:

• Active ground floor frontages with science on show, animating the city centre approach.
• Increase in width of pavement along Hythe Bridge Street.
• £100m of regeneration delivering in excess of 700 new jobs.
• Reduction in over 80 car parking spaces. The scheme will now only have two blue badge parking spaces and greatly improved cycle parking.
• Significant carbon saving over the lifetime of the asset.
• New community facility to be used for dance, arts and other flexible uses.
• New pocket garden open to the public for people to use and enjoy.
• New café fronting onto Frideswide Square.