1000 Discovery Drive, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

SDC has commenced construction of 1000 Discovery Drive on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, on behalf of developer and investor Prologis UK.

1000 Discovery Drive (1000DD) is a flexible five-storey multi-occupancy building providing approximately 105,000 sq ft of office and B1(b) laboratory space on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The building is the second structure to be developed on phase 2 expansion land and will sit adjacent to the Abcam Headquarters on Dame Mary Archer Way.

As the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is the largest centre of life sciences and medical research in Europe, potential tenants for the new building are likely to be combinations of businesses undertaking biomedical and chemical research. The finished scheme, therefore, will provide speculative wet or dry laboratories and office space with a 50:50 ratio, which can be let to a single tenant per floor or multiple tenants in units of a minimum size of 5,000 sq ft. The building will also include a double-height reception area, a contemporary café which will spill out onto an external plaza, exhibition space, communal meeting rooms and breakout areas, and plantrooms and delivery zones.

Externally, the façade has been designed to respond to the changing requirements of a multi-occupied building, and the simple building form complements the complex services strategy. The main feature of the design however is a compelling entrance feature, an abstract structural tree, which symbolises the coming together of science, discovery, and architecture. 

The project commenced on site in May this year and is due for completion in summer 2023.