10
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE, CAMBRIDGE
ROUNDED TRIANGLE
The building is triangular with rounded edges, responding to the constraints of its site, and appears to ‘hover’ above it
are located within the life sciences cluster, employing around 20,000 people. It’s the most productive life sciences community in Europe, contributing nearly £3bn annually to the UK economy. Such collaboration, including the work
of AstraZeneca itself, has been identifi ed by the Government as key to improving the UK’s overall investment in R&D which it has targeted to be 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) also recently announced an overall budget of £13.9bn for 2025/26, with every pound of public investment projected to leverage £2 of private investment. To encourage collaboration further, the ground fl oor level of the DISC has been designed to be as open plan as possible, allowing users and visitors to get together in a variety of spaces, including purpose- designed collaboration spaces. There are also further areas on the upper fl oors, providing diverse spaces for informal meetings and exchange.
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
Bumps in the road
While the DISC has been lauded since its opening, the road to completion was anything but smooth. AstraZeneca fi rst revealed its plans to open a new facility in 2013, when they appointed Herzog & de Meuron to design the scheme. A series of design development stages then took place, before outline planning permission was fi nally granted in February 2015. When fi rst announced, it was planned that the centre would take three years to complete, opening in 2016. The company sold its Alderley Park site, with a plan to remain onsite as a tenant until able to relocate all staff to the building in 2016. However, despite construction beginning soon after planning approval, the project was hit by a series of delays and spiralling costs, with the fi nal total cost hitting £1bn – more than three times the initial budget of £330m. The anticipated spend was gradually increased as the project progressed, fi rst to £500m and then £750m, before it ultimately hit the £1bn mark.
ADF MAY 2025
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