A derelict site between the British Library and St Pancras Eurostar terminal is to be converted into one of the world’s top medical research centres at a cost of more than £500m, the government announced last night. Financial Times
The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation will house 1,500 scientists and support staff on the 3.5-acre site, working on a range of bioscience projects but with a focus on cancer.
The project is a partnership between Medical Research Council, University College London and Britain’s two largest medical charities, Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust.
The centre 'will compete and collaborate with other global hubs of scientific and medical excellence such as Biopolis in Singapore, the Allston Initiative at Harvard in the US and the Shanghai Science-based Industrial Park in China', the partners said in a joint statement.
The government-owned site accommodated offices and equipment used to build the new Eurostar terminal.
Half a dozen developers were said to be interested in the land but the government agreed to sell it to the UKCMRI partnership for £85m. The partners expect to spend £385m on a spectacular new building and a substantial sum on infrastructure.