THE University of Warwick’s Innovation Centre at Wellesbourne could get a £550 million investment to turn it into a world-leading research campus.
The site, which is currently home to around 20 businesses, could provide more than 4,100 jobs and an estimated economic output of £1.43 billion.
The huge figures are contained in the university’s outline planning application which, after years of work and negotiations, has been submitted to Stratford District Council.
Above, an artist’s impression of the development. Image: University of Warwick
While environment and sustainability form a massive part of the development proposals, the key points in the plans would allow for the development of up to 280,000sq m of laboratory, offices and light industrial floorspace as well as units for retail, food and drink, a hotel, crèche and gym. There would also be three multi-storey car parks.
The campus, which is in the parish of Charlecote, covers around 190ha (469.5 acres) of land. While much of that is agricultural land for research, about 20ha currently contains buildings.
Many of those buildings would be demolished and replaced as the built-on campus would be extended to around 47.5ha (117 acres), including open spaces, footpaths and roads.
The planning documents place a lot of importance on the open spaces and landscaping, with the aim of being sustainable and achieving biodiversity net gain.
They add: “The campus landscape will play an important part in creating a sense of place and community and attracting the best researchers, innovators and employers. The landscape should reflect and showcase the research and innovation taking place on the campus and support the development of innovation hubs, providing outdoor opportunities for the exchange of ideas and knowledge between the university and industry partners.”
At the heart of the campus will be a village centre which will be built around a barn which has been on the site since at least 1848 and will be retained.
The village centre is where the campus facilities and hotel will be located along with a central square and green.
A map showing how the campus would expand.
Elsewhere different zones of the campus will have different design codes for buildings, with shorter buildings closer to the western boundaries and larger – up to four storeys high – towards the central and eastern parts of the site.
Innovation hubs will also be built to “promote interaction, synergy and collaboration between organisations within the different zones and users of the campus in general”. The documents add: “Through showcase spaces, canteens, study spaces, labs and more, the network of hubs across the campus will be open to all, encouraging interactions to take place – while still maintaining privacy within the dedicated areas for each collaborator/ tenant throughout the campus.”
The hubs don’t stop with innovation. There could also be mobility hubs. The main hub would be an interchange for transportation, including buses, bikes and car pools/clubs while smaller mobility hubs would be built around the campus to provide areas where e-bikes or e-scooters could be charged.
Around 2,000 parking spaces would be created on-site in the multi-storeys, but there could also be parking off-site at railway stations with buses carrying workers to the campus.
While this would help lessen some of the impact on the local roads – the site is located off the A429 – the extra traffic was raised as a concern by locals during pre-planning consultations. The university says its plans will mitigate the amount of cars heading to the site as parking would be charged and car sharing would be encouraged and incentivised. There are also plans to upgrade cycling networks.
The documents acknowledge that new traffic lights at the site’s entrance on the A429 could have an impact – and there would be extra traffic going through the already congested Longbridge Island M40 junction – but it concludes the development ‘would not have a severe impact at Junction 15 [of the M40] or the wider strategic road network’.
Other issues which were raised prior to the application included concerns about light pollution, the size of the buildings, and housing to support all the new jobs.
The site is seen by SDC as one which could expand and fits in with its strategies for economic growth.
Artist’s impression of the central village on the campus. Image: University of Warwick
However, any growth provided by the campus is some way off. The university has requested five years to begin the work, from the date of any planning permission, and expects to take 10-15 years to complete the scheme.
Martin Yardley, director of development at the university, said “The submission of the application for Outline Planning Permission is a hugely important milestone in achieving the university’s vision for the development of a world-class Innovation Campus. We have greatly appreciated the input from our partners across the district, the county, and the wider Midlands region in shaping a masterplan that will support major economic growth and societal impact”.
Greg Clark, chair of Warwick Innovation District, said “The development of the Stratford Innovation Campus is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the University, and we are delighted to have reached this significant moment. The campus is a unique location where academic researchers and both large and small companies can co-locate to work on some of the planet’s greatest challenges. We are looking forward to being able to attract many more businesses to share the campus with us, and to building collaborative innovation programmes of global importance”.