‘Living wage building’ to begin construction in city next month
Work will begin on the 180,000 sq ft Fabrica scheme, located on Botley Road in Oxford’s West End, in May.
Arranged across five floors, Fabrica has been designed with high flexibility to accommodate the evolving requirements of science and innovation companies.
The scheme will also provide over 7,000 sq ft of amenities including an F&B offering open to both occupiers and the wider public, intended to bridge the gap between science and the community.
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Fabrica is the first commercial science building in the UK to target a BREEAM Outstanding certification.
It has also been dubbed as Oxford’s first “living wage building” as a requirement has been set that all employees working within will receive a living wage or higher.
Mission Street, a specialist investor, developer and operator for the science and innovation sector, and BGO, the global real estate investment manager, have appointed leading construction and development company Bowmer + Kirkland on Fabrica, central Oxford’s largest commercial science scheme.
Construction starts next month marking the biggest UK science project to start in the first half of the year
This follows the completion of groundworks and site preparation by Colemans.
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Colin Brown, development director at Mission Street, said: “Following a collaborative, positive procurement process, Bowmer + Kirkland will shortly take forward the science and innovation sector’s biggest construction start of 2025 so far.
“As science companies increasingly look to central Oxford for its extensive amenities and unrivalled transport connections, which will include the future link to East West Rail, Fabrica’s delivery represents a major vote of confidence in the UK market.”
Fabrica marks the second phase of Oxford’s Central Science District, following the completion of Mission Street and BGO’s Inventa scheme in 2024.
Inventa was the first commercial science building to be completed in Oxford’s West End.
Inventa has attracted some of the city’s most exciting innovation companies, including 3D genomics pioneer Nucleome.
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Neil Brook, group construction director at Bowmer + Kirkland, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed as the construction partner for this exciting and innovative lab, office, and collaboration space in the heart of Oxford, strengthening our existing relationship with Mission Street and BGO in the rapidly evolving life sciences sector.
“Our teams approached this project collaboratively from the start, allowing us to complete the tender process in just 10 weeks.
“We look forward to starting on-site at the end of May with a 96-week programme.”
The building is expected to be completed in early 2027.
