Developer picked to transform Leeds’ Old Medical School

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has appointed Scarborough Group International as the preferred developer to regenerate its Old Medical School into a health-tech innovation hub. The 1890s building currently houses the trust’s pathology department, which is relocating to the Centre for Laboratory Medicine at St James’s University Hospital.   Scarborough Group plans to create a health-tech ecosystem at the Old Medical School to encourage collaboration between clinicians, academics, researchers and entrepreneurs, supporting the growth of start-ups and scale-ups.  The Old Medical School’s historic Tudor Gothic style is expected to be preserved during the transformation alongside contemporary enhancements featuring laboratories, co-working spaces, offices and communal areas, as well as a new atrium over the inner courtyard.  The 45,000 sq ft scheme is estimated to have a GDV of £12m-£15m, and is set to benefit from the £160m West Yorkshire Investment Zone. The appointment represents the first phase in the delivery of Leeds Innovation Village, a 2.2m sq ft cluster for science, innovation and technology surrounding the new hospital development at Leeds General Infirmary. It is expected to create up to 4,000 new jobs, more than 500 new homes and an economic boost of £13bn for West Yorkshire.   The site is also within the wider Leeds Innovation Arc, a series of connected neighbourhoods around Leeds General Infirmary comprising a new hospital for adults, a new home for Leeds Children’s Hospital and the UK’s largest single-site maternity and neonatal centre; the University of Leeds; Leeds Beckett University; Leeds Arts University; and the city’s West End.  Linda Pollard, chair of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The Old Medical School has a proud history as a place of learning for past generations of surgeons and doctors, and an exciting future as a hub for future generations of health-tech innovators.” Mark Jackson, group development director at Scarborough Group, added: “By creating a dynamic environment where clinicians, academics, researchers and entrepreneurs can collaborate, innovate and grow, we want to help drive forward the development of technologies and solutions, and support their integration into the broader healthcare landscape, benefiting patients and advancing the forefront of medical innovation.” Fox Lloyd Jones advised Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust during the marketing process for the Old Medical School. Image © Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust