British Land's Head of Development for Science & Technology to contribute to Global Science Cities

Above: Gareth Roberts - courtesy British Land

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Gareth Roberts of British Land will be speaking at our 'Global Science Cities' discussion event this September on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

He will be joining Joseph Casey, Director of Partnerships and Operations at King's Health Partners, and Nick Kirby, Managing Director of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, among other contributors.

Gareth is Head of Development for Science & Technology and Standalone Projects at British Land. The company has a 10 million sq ft net zero development pipeline, over 2m sq ft of which is lab enabled space. He has been at British Land for 10 years and was most recently responsible for the £2.5bn transformation of the Broadgate Campus in the City of London.

Gareth is also a previous Chair of the City Property Association, the voice of the real estate industry in the City of London.

In Cambridge, British Land is developing The Optic, a new office and lab building at Peterhouse Technology Park in the city.

Designed by Scott Brownrigg, the expansion will provide a single, three-storey building with a new state-of-the-art laboratory and workspace, landscaping, parking and associated infrastructure - widening their offering in the science, technology, and innovation sector.

With a growing demand for lab space in Cambridgeshire, the design reflects British Land's and Scott Brownrigg's shared commitment to helping achieve the UK’s scientific ambitions and providing leading science and technology businesses with the space they need to grow and flourish. Completion is expected in Q1 2025.

So how does British Land create places for innovation, as well as great places to work and collaborate?

Last September at our 'Innovation Cities' event at Here East, Michael Wiseman, Head of UK Office Leasing, Life Science and Innovation at British Land, explained:

'One of the ways our business has changed over the past few years is that we see ourselves as custodians of pieces of city and we think about how they integrate into the areas around. At Regent's Place our campus is integrated into the Knowledge Quarter (of King's Cross St Pancras), at Canada Water where we have 53 acres we really focus on making a place not just for new entrants buying a flat there, but also the existing community. We have more people in our community team than we do in the commercial team buying an selling assets and that speaks a lot to how seriously we take this engagement. Canada Water was 10 years through the planning process, talking to local communities, and we have to feel that we are working for that area of London. it is the heart of what we do.'

Above: The Optic under construction at Peterhouse Technology Park, Cambridge. Image courtesy of British Land.