All go for Bicester Motion’s new £50m Innovation Quarter

Detailed designs for seven new HQ buildings totalling 212,030 sq ft at Bicester Motion’s new Innovation Quarter have been given the go ahead by Cherwell District Council. Bicester Motion is a 444-acre former RAF site acquired in 2013 in the heart of Motorsport Valley in Oxfordshire and home to more than 50 industry-leading mobility technology businesses. Companies include Neom McLaren Electric Racing, Motorsport UK, the governing body of British Motorsport, PhysicsX, Polestar, and synthetic fuel manufacturer Zero. See also: The EG Interview: Driving development at Bicester Motion Bicester Motion’s masterplan has been adopted and supported by Cherwell District Council with consent for 1m sq ft across its Heritage, Innovation, Experience and Wilderness Quarters and hotel. Detailed designs for the Innovation Quarter will see a £50m investment to deliver seven new HQ buildings ranging from 7,500 sq ft to 60,000 sq ft and suitable for R&D, light assembly and showcasing products. Phase one will deliver the first two buildings and construction is due to start in spring 2024 with completion in Q1 2025. The carbon-efficient buildings will target BREEAM Excellent certification and EPC A rating. They will be prepared for solar PV technology and include dedicated ecology and biodiversity areas, green space amenities for staff health and wellbeing, and more than 100 cycle parking spaces. Dan Geoghegan, chief executive at Bicester Motion, said: “We acquired the abandoned former World War II RAF base in 2013 and since then have been creating the pre-eminent destination to experience the full breadth of automotive and aviation engineering, events, culture, design, research, and manufacture. “Now home to more than 500 highly skilled jobs, from engineers carefully restoring the classics in our workshops to acclaimed national headquarters at the cutting edge of innovation, together with our amenities, track and aerodrome facilities, not to mention our regular fun-fuelled events with footfall of 200,000=plus visitors per year, we are a unique and thriving community.” He added: “Today’s planning news is a significant milestone in our evolution to invest in and deliver our new Innovation Quarter. We are resolute in our focus to deliver a unique home and space for future innovating mobility pioneers, putting Bicester on the technology map, and boosting the economy in creating jobs both through construction and specifically within the future companies which join our thriving estate.” Acting on behalf of Bicester Motion are 3D Reid, IKS Consulting, Hydrock, Mcgregor Smith, Ecology Solutions, Edgars, Worlledge Associates and Mode. Adalta Real and Bidwells are letting agents on the scheme. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews Image from Bicester Motion