Major Parkside development now underway at University of Essex

Work has started on a major £10.7m office development at Parkside on the Knowledge Gateway research and technology park on the University of Essex’s Colchester Campus.

Work has started on a major £10.7m office development at Parkside on the Knowledge Gateway research and technology park on the University of Essex’s Colchester Campus.
The Grade A, 41,571 sq. ft. office is the largest headquarters style office currently under construction in the eastern region and will be ready in 2023.

The building is designed to be as flexible as possible so it can accommodate a large anchor tenant or be sub-divided into smaller units.

For more information visit: https://knowledge-gateway.co.uk/

Registrar Bryn Morris was joined on a tour of the site by representatives from contractor R J Carter including Director of R G Carter Southern James Wilson and Colchester Borough Council cabinet members including Deputy Leader Cllr Adam Fox, who is also Portfolio Holder for the Local Economy and Transformation.

Mr Morris said: “Seeing the latest, most ambitious phase of Parkside starting to take shape is extremely exciting for the University. This shows the level of ambition we have for the Knowledge Gateway research and technology park.

“We have a growing community of businesses across Parkside Office Village and the Innovation Centre and this building offers a fantastic opportunity to bring in new tenants who share our vision of driving forward the economy of the Eastern region.

“They can benefit from close links with the University, including our research community and students, alongside our campus facilities including our award-wining park.”

James Wilson, General Manager and Director from R G Carter added: “We are delighted to be collaborating with the University of Essex to deliver this exciting development.

The ground-breaking ceremony is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the start of this innovative project, providing exceptional facilities that will positively impact the university campus, local businesses, and support wider economic growth across the region.”

Mr Morris was also joined by Cllr Pam Cox, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Heritage; and Cllr Andrea Luxford Vaughan, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure, alongside R J Carter representatives Senior Contracts Manager Ian Powell, Project Manager John Turpin and Senior Quantity Surveyor Murray Pease.

More about Parkside

This is the latest and largest phase of Parkside Office Village located on the Knowledge Gateway research and technology park at the Colchester Campus. Parkside is a hub for small and medium-sized enterprises which value the campus location and building connections with the University.

The new building will offer more opportunities for businesses wanting to move to the University’s Colchester Campus and take advantage of links to the University’s research community, graduate and student talent pool, campus facilities and business networks.

The University has ambitious plans for further development of Parkside and is looking at creating another similar-sized building focusing on health technology and wellbeing, including ageing and assisted living, preventative health technology, and data analytics for health.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) awarded the University of Essex a £5m funding package from the Local Growth Fund (LGF) for Phase 3 of Parkside.
One of the purposes of the project is to help retain highly skilled workers within the local economy who would otherwise move away from the area.

SELEP previously provided Growing Places Fund (GPF) loan funding to support the earlier phases of development at Parkside, including a £3.25m GPF loan to support the initial phase of the development.

SELEP also provided £2m in LGF support to the Innovation Centre, Knowledge Gateway, which opened in Spring 2019. The Innovation Centre is a partnership with leading operator Oxford Innovation and is designed to attract and support new and growing innovative businesses. These companies can then potentially move on to the Parkside Office Village to grow further, creating a sustainable business eco-system across the University site.

The latest phase of Parkside is available to pre-let. Please contact the joint lettings agents for further information. Ben Le Coq, Carter Jonas: ben.lecoq@carterjonas.co.uk / 07776 181799 and  Ewan Dodds, Whybrow: ewan@whybrow.net / 07957 862773.

Photo courtesy of Happy Days Photography