Initial plans for Red Hall approved in 2021 with Laing O’Rourke set to start building work this summer

Oxford City Council has OK’d an application to expand the scope of an approved office job at the centre of the Oxford North life sciences scheme.

Red Hall was first green lit in March 2021 as part of the planning permission for the first phase of the £700m development, which sits in 64 acres of land sandwiched between the A34 and A40.

Laing O’Rourke is slated to start work on the two workspace buildings, known as Red Hall because of its red roof and walls, this summer.

Enhancing the Red Hall at Oxford North – Oxford City Council resolves to approve RMA to expand and provide further amenity, coworking, meeting and workspace low res

The building is called Red Hall because of its red roof and walls

The enhanced Red Hall has been designed by first phase masterplanner Fletcher Priest and has retained the style of the previously consented building but with an additional 21,500 sq ft in a three-floor wing to the north-east, which will connect the building to a new market square and central park.

The building will now provide more than 61,000 sq ft over five floors, providing amenities and workspace to accommodate a range of science and innovation start-ups and SMEs.

It will also house the estate management team for Oxford North Ventures, the joint venture of Stanhope, Cadillac Fairview and Thomas White Oxford, the development company of St John’s College.

Oxford North Ventures anticipates an April completion date for enabling works for phase 1, which has permission for a total of 480 new homes and more than one million sq ft of laboratory and workspace.

A second phase, which will feature three laboratory buildings totally 425,000 sq ft and public spaces in the centre of the development, is currently out for public consultation, while a third phase of work is also planned.

The developer is aiming to finish Red Hall, along with two lab buildings, for the first quarter of 2025.

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