Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner are submitting a detailed planning application for a state-of-the-art commercial health and life sciences building at Canary Wharf’s North Quay.

The new 23-storey, 823,000 sq ft tower is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and will set a new standard in the development of life sciences laboratories and workspace, resulting in Europe's largest and most technologically advanced life sciences facility.

The building has been designed to allow up to 60% of laboratories, with the ability to provide chemistry and high containment facilities.

The building’s infrastructure employs an innovative stacking programme allowing for a distributed mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering (MEP)strategy, across the stacks. This enables the building to provide laboratory space on every floor.

The community-focused design provides ultimate flexibility in tenant scale, arrangement, and expansion without losing the sense of being part of an exciting, collaborative environment.

The ground floor of the building will be open to the public, providing community spaces, a café and break-out areas for conferences and meet-ups in order to enhance collaboration within the building’s life science community.

The exterior was inspired by the industrial heritage of North Quay, with laboratory volumes clad in a grid of graphite aluminium and terracotta elements in a gradient of warm tones. The colour gradient emphasises the position of the central, social spine of the building and becomes an immediately recognisable feature creating a unique identity. For environmental performance and thermal comfort, solar shading is incorporated, which prevents overheating whilst allowing deep daylight penetration and views out.

The building incorporates dedicated clinical and chemical waste facilities, multiple goods lifts with oxygen monitors, freezer farms and specialised receiving and storage areas for hazardous, clinical and chemical goods. The building’s central service provision will include Nitrogen (gaseous & liquid), CO2 and compressed air.

A low-carbon strategy has been implemented across the development, which includes highly insulated and airtight building fabric, with an optimised façade, energy-efficient MEP systems and the provision of renewable sources and highly efficient photo voltaic panels.

The pioneering HVAC design utilising heat pumps and heat recovery systems allows the building to be one of the largest all-electric lab spaces in the world, in line with net zero ambitions. Embracing an all-electric heating and cooling strategy to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, the building is targeting BREEAM rating Excellent, with an aspiration for Outstanding for the laboratory and office areas. The building is targeting WELL-Platinum certification.

Shobi Khan, CEO of Canary Wharf Group, commented: “We have been developing our vision for a world-class life sciences hub at Canary Wharf since 2019, and this is a significant milestone in our journey. Canary Wharf offers an unrivalled and exceptional environment with access to great transport, over 80 cafes, bars, and restaurants, 20 acres of green spaces and 5 km of waterside boardwalks, as well as access to a wide range of amenities including open-water swimming, go-kart racing and an award-winning arts and events programme. This project will continue the transformation of Canary Wharf, providing a sustainable, mixed-use environment for the next generation of life science offices.”

Michel Leemhuis, CEO of Kadans Science Partner, said: “Kadans prides itself on being a leading contributor to the evolution of the life sciences sector and this impressive new building at North Quay is a great example of how we are driving the development of innovative state-of-the-art lab buildings. By capitalising on our previous experience and using lessons learned, we are able to make a significant step forward in the development of life science buildings. It marks a step change in the way ecosystems for knowledge-intensive businesses are designed and developed.”

Elie Gamburg, Design Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), added: “Connection breeds innovation – great discoveries often result from the confluence of ideas among seemingly disparate disciplines. For North Quay, we sought to design a spatial ecosystem to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in a dense urban environment. Traditional lab buildings have been low-rise campuses, but North Quay generates an innovative new paradigm – the vertical campus. Technical areas and social spaces are intermingled in a sustainable development that provides a dynamic place for discovery and invites the public in. An active waterfront, reinterpreting the Quayside docks, is created for an evolving Canary Wharf.”

There are quite a few science-led businesses that are already located in Canary Wharf, with Genomics England, one of the world’s most cutting-edge life science organisations, moving into One Canada Square. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is at 10 South Colonnades, UCL Management School at One Canada Square and the General Pharmaceutical Council at 25 Canada Square.