Work has begun to create a new Innovation Gateway – a high-quality incubator space for life-science companies – at the heart of The London Cancer Hub in Sutton, South London.
The creation of the Innovation Gateway is a significant step in realising the vision of The London Cancer Hub, an ambitious partnership between the London Borough of Sutton and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, which aims to create the world’s leading district for cancer research, treatment and commercial enterprise.
The Innovation Gateway will offer innovative companies the chance to work directly with world-class scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) within mixed laboratory, office and collaboration space.
It is due to open in late 2021 and will be home to a range of companies whose work relates to cancer, with a particular emphasis on accommodating start-ups, spin-outs and small teams from the biotech, medtech, data science and pharmaceutical industries.
The London Borough of Sutton, which owns the existing building which will be refurbished to create the Innovation Gateway, has appointed Kastner, the laboratory fit-out division of Bristol-based McFeggan Brown, to undertake the work.
Kastner will be refurbishing a two-story building at The London Cancer Hub previously known as Cumbrian House.
The total area available for life-science companies at the development will be around 6,300 square feet, with around 3,750 square feet set to be laboratory space. It is being developed to a flexible plan which will reflect the needs of companies, with up to seven separate laboratories plus shared laboratory space – and there will also be an option for companies to take up an additional, larger space which could be laid out for their needs.
The building is being refurbished alongside a wider planned redevelopment of the surrounding wider space to create a high-quality public realm, which will join the Innovation Gateway with the adjacent Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, a state-of-the art new science building at the ICR.
