Reef and UBS jv cleared for Oxford’s Hythe Bridge Street makeover

An office-to-lab conversion on Hythe Bridge Street in Oxford is set to go ahead following approval from the city council. The move follows a recommendation given by the planning officer last week.  In March, Forge_Kn, a joint venture between Reef and UBS, submitted proposals to knock down the existing three offices on the 1.1-acre site, known as Beaver House and Boatman’s House. The former is a four-storey, multi-occupied 1970s office building with surface and basement car parking. It provides 106,939 sq ft of floorspace. The latter comprises a three-storey and a one-storey building measuring a total of 12,465 sq ft. Boatman’s House is occupied for private educational use on the upper floors while there are three restaurants on the ground floor. It also has car parking at both ground and basement levels. These buildings will be replaced with a 213,179 sq ft life sciences facility, spanning five floors, which will provide laboratory space and a community hub including a café and garden. The floorspace will primarily be used for laboratories and offices, designed to ensure a wide range of research functions are capable of being undertaken, including wet labs, specialist support labs and associated collaboration spaces. Each floor is expected to be occupied by between one and four tenants, with the potential for a major tenant to occupy more than one floor or the entire building. The proposed development, designed by Purcell, is targeting a series of certifications including BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Gold. Savills advised the jv on planning matters. Image © Purcell