Unity Campus is an 260,000-square-foot innovation district in the Cambridgeshire countryside owned by Howard Group, a family-owned business founded in 1935. Eight miles south of Cambridge, the 11.5 acre campus is within walking distance of Whittlesford Parkway railway station.
The campus is being redeveloped in phases. The second development phase completed in December 2023 and consists of 90,000 square feet of purpose-built high quality wet laboratory and office space spread over three buildings. Domainex has now expanded its facilities into Sigma, a state-of-the-art 24,000-square-foot three-storey building designed to facilitate a 60-40 wet lab-office split on a 10-year lease term and a headline rent of £46 per square foot, which won it lease of the year in CoStar's Impact Awards.
About the Project: Domainex is a integrated drug discovery company that has had a 50% growth in headcount over the last 12 months. It has ambitious plans to build on this success and double its revenue over the next three years and, as a result, needed to significantly increase its real estate footprint. Having developed a collaborative relationship with Domainex as existing occupiers, Howard Group worked with the company to understand its needs and requirements, enabling Howard Group to offer the opportunity to expand on the campus at the right time.
Howard Group and Domainex worked together to specify the fit-out design of the lab and office accommodation. The fit-out works were negotiated with the incumbent shell and core main contractor which significantly reduced the works programme and allowed quicker access.
The main contractor Morgan Sindall's community benefits included: four, homeless apprentice starts through FutureIn, five additional apprentices working on site, 18 work experience places and engagement of social enterprises like Combat2Coffee – supporting local businesses, while combating mental illness.
What the Judges Said: Steve Norris, Chairman, Soho Estates said: "The ability for the tenant to grow as the business expands and the exemplary attitude of the owner make this an impressive letting." Colin Lizieri, professor of real estate finance, University of Cambridge, highlighted the park's benefits: "I chose the Domainex as the best of the three, more for the external-facing activity on the park itself than because of the lease itself: there's a lot of community activity with surrounding areas and engagement, alongside promotion of interaction and creation of agglomeration economies amongst tenants. It does seem that Domainex are playing their part in that community impact. There's due attention to sustainability (BREEAM excellent etc), it's good to have a life sciences letting away from main clusters and site's accessible by public transit with nearby station."
They Made It Happen: Katherine Friend, director – investment and asset management, Howard Investment Company; David Cronk, chief operating officer, Domainex; Jamie Green, partner, Dowley Turner Real Estate, Bridget Partridge, associate, JLL.
