Life sciences has been one of the brightest spots in the UK property market since the pandemic, with occupier and investor demand rising on the back of a wave of fundraising activity across the sector. Firms working in areas such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and genomics have sought lab and office space to support their research and growth, and London has been a key focus for demand, as one corner of the life sciences ‘Golden Triangle’ alongside Oxford and Cambridge.

London has a handful of well-established life sciences clusters, most of which have grown organically around hospital or university sites, with the most prominent being the globally important Knowledge Quarter centred on King’s Cross. However, these clusters have struggled to accommodate rising demand. Supply shortages are a widespread feature across the Golden Triangle, but London has specific challenges as a densely urbanised city where build costs are high and sites suitable for conventional styles of life sciences property are scarce.

The strength of demand has encouraged office-to-lab conversions and triggered new life sciences development in non-traditional locations such as Canary Wharf. Developers are increasingly finding space for life sciences within large-scale mixed-use and master planned developments, often in preference to conventional offices, which face a more uncertain outlook due to ongoing structural issues.

London’s newer developments are challenging the traditional image of life sciences property as the preserve of out-of-town science parks, with many located in built-up business districts and high-rise buildings. New styles of vertical and modular development are being pioneered to accommodate the immediate strong demand.

LSH is supporting the growth of life sciences in London, providing developers, investors and occupiers with a comprehensive range of services and advice, and playing an active role in many of the capital’s most exciting life science projects.

(Header image courtesy of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust)

Life Sciences Hotspots

Key Locations

King's Cross

THE GLOBAL CLUSTER

The Knowledge Quarter is a globally-significant cluster of science and knowledge-based institutions and companies, in an area that encompasses King’s Cross, Euston Road and Bloomsbury.

The Francis Crick Institute is a key focal point, while the quarter is also home to the Alan Turing Institute, University College London, the Wellcome Trust and the London BioScience Innovation Centre, a key incubator hosting more than 50 companies.

This area is attracting considerable life sciences development and investment. Kadans Science Partner has acquired three sites within the quarter, of which 5-10 Brandon Road is the first to see new development, with 114,000 sq ft of flexible offices and labs due in Q2 2024. Meanwhile, 85 Gray’s Inn Road, including 29,000 sq ft of offices and lab-enabled space is due in Q3 2023.

Over the longer term, large-scale proposals include British Land’s plans to redevelop Euston Tower (571,000 sq ft) as a life science focused asset; while Reef and BlackRock’s Tribeca project includes plans for 1m sq ft of labs, offices and apartments. The first phase of Tribeca is a lab building called Apex (112,341 sq ft), opening in Spring 2024, where the London BioScience Innovation Centre will occupy 37,127 sq ft.
White City

ESTABLISHED LOCATION

The White City Innovation District is an established location for scientific and creative industries, with Imperial College’s White City Campus and the adjacent White City Place at the heart of the cluster.

The Imperial College Campus hosts a network of innovation spaces aimed at businesses, such as Scale Space, a joint venture with Blenheim Chalcot offering 200,000 sq ft of workspaces, including labs ranging from 500 to 1,000 sq ft.

Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo’s White City Place, formerly known as BBC Media Village, has a significant focus on life sciences. Lab-enabled space is available in the WestWorks and MediaWorks buildings, while future opportunities will be provided by the Gateway East development. Life sciences firms located at White City Place include Novartis, Autolus and Synthace.

Nearby Hammersmith is also attracting life sciences demand, with 245 Hammersmith Road emerging as a key focal point. This is a best-in-class office building whose technical specifications enable it to accommodate firms with lab requirements, such as Orchard Therapeutics, which was advised by LSH on its occupation of 17,382 sq ft at the building.
South Bank

ESTABLISHED LOCATION

London’s South Bank is home to cluster of universities and hospitals, recently branded as the SC1 life science district.

SC1 was founded by King’s Health Partners, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Lambeth and Southwark councils, with the aim of creating a ‘transformative’ life science ecosystem in central London.

There are ambitious plans to develop new spaces for health and life sciences in the area. Projects in the pipeline include Oxford Properties and Reef’s Snowsfield Quarter, a 300,000 sq ft life sciences hub adjacent to Guy's Hospital Campus; CIT’s Vinegar Yard, a life science-led mixed-use development totalling more than 300,000 sq ft next to London Bridge station; and Stanhope and Baupost’s Royal Street project on a 5.5-acre site opposite St Thomas’ Hospital.

More imminently, LSH is assisting Synnovis (a partnership formed by lab diagnostics company SYNLAB, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) with a 140,000 sq ft office-to-lab conversion at Friars Bridge Court. This will be one of the largest pathology labs in the UK upon practical completion in late 2023.
Whitechapel

ESTABLISHED LOCATION

Whitechapel’s strengths in life sciences stem from the presence of several major healthcare and academic institutions including the Royal London Hospital and Queen Mary University of London.

The life sciences ecosystem is supported by Barts Life Sciences, a partnership between Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University. Commercial incubator space is available at Queen Mary’s QMB Innovation Centre, offering 39,000 sq ft of purpose-built labs and offices.

There is a long-term vision to create a new life sciences cluster at Whitechapel Road by redeveloping a series of outdated buildings and empty sites around the Royal London Hospital. A planning application has been submitted covering 800,000 sq ft of new lab-enabled and office space on multiple plots of a 3.4-acre site. It is understood that NHS Property Services is seeking a buyer for the site as a precursor to development.
Sutton

ESTABLISHED LOCATION

The outer borough of Sutton is the location of the London Cancer Hub, a Europe-leading oncology district, which is home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research.

A development framework was established by Sutton Council and its partners in 2016 with the aim of turning the site into a global centre for cancer innovation. The long-term vision includes approximately 3m sq ft of life sciences buildings.

An initial wave of new development has seen the recent completion of the Royal Marsden’s Oak Cancer Centre, with LSH providing advice throughout the planning process. In addition, the Institute for Cancer Research, also advised by LSH, has completed its Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery; while the Innovation Gateway was opened in 2022, offering 6,300 sq ft of incubator space for life sciences firms. Sutton Council is seeking an investment partner to develop the next phase, a 4.8-hectare site capable of hosting up to 1m sq ft of development.
Canary Wharf

EMERGING LOCATION

While Canary Wharf is traditionally a centre for financial and business services, its occupier base is becoming increasingly diverse, with life sciences companies emerging as a new source of demand.

Level39, the Canary Wharf Group’s co-working hub based at One Canada Square, hosts a growing life sciences ecosystem, having recently attracted a raft of new members from the sector.

The Canary Wharf Group has formed a joint venture with Kadans Science Partner to capitalise on the life science opportunity. It is progressing plans for a unique ‘vertical campus’ at One North Quay, providing 823,000 sq ft of life sciences space in a 23-storey tower, with completion expected in 2026. More immediately, Kadans is delivering the London Innovation Centre at 20 Water Street, comprising two floors of fully fitted wet labs and offices totalling 40,000 sq ft.
Canada Water

EMERGING LOCATION

British Land and AustralianSuper have delivered 33,000 sq ft of flexible lab space at Paper Yard in Canada Water, using a modular design that enabled a rapid construction period of just nine months. The first tenant, the start-up Chemastery, was announced in June 2023.

Paper Yard has been built as part of the first phase of the Canada Water Masterplan, one of London’s largest mixed-use regeneration projects. Future phases may move the project further in a science direction, as architect Stanton Williams was recently appointed to draw up plans for a 300,000 sq ft life sciences building to be included in phase two.
Paddington

EMERGING LOCATION

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust launched its Paddington Life Sciences vision in 2022, outlining plans to grow a clinical life sciences cluster centred on St Mary’s Hospital.

The Trust is aiming to comprehensively reconstruct the St Mary’s estate, by redeveloping the hospital and adding 1.5m sq ft of cross-functional commercial and lab space for life sciences businesses.

Commercial development plans are still at an early stage, but British Land, Brockton Everlast and Derwent London are among the organisations recently announced as founding members of Paddington Life Sciences Partners.