Net Zero Carbon science parks have plenty to offer investors and occupiers, especially in a field like agri-tech that’s driving more sustainable land use. We just have to spell out their benefits, and think laterally to bring everyone on board, says Liz Sparrow, Partner at Ridge

The UK’s thriving science scene is one of the most exciting sectors to work in right now. We’re seeing a new generation of projects that are designed not only to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable world, but to embody it. Agri-tech is a particularly promising area, and an inspiring one: innovations in fields such as robotics, AI-optimised crop management and biotechnology will transform the way we farm, and be essential to our future food security, and ultimately to the survival of the human race.

Agri-tech is a particularly promising area, and an inspiring one: innovations in fields such as robotics, AI-optimised crop management and biotechnology will transform the way we farm, and be essential to our future food security, and ultimately to the survival of the human race.

At Ridge, we are helping to deliver several agri-tech research parks, including Norwich Research Park and the new Innovation Village at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU), where we are providing Planning Consultancy and Project Management. The RAU’s vision is to create a community of entrepreneurs, policymakers, practitioners and researchers committed to transforming global agriculture, on a Net Zero Carbon campus in the heart of the Cotswolds. At the Innovation Village, regenerative land use will be central to the development, not just the science taking place within it. The site itself is at the heart of the proposals, and it will become a test bed for research but also for enhancing biodiversity and health and wellbeing. The masterplan was submitted for outline planning consent earlier this year, and the next, crucial step is to bring investors and potential tenants on board who share the RAU’s long-term goals.

The site itself is at the heart of the proposals, and it will become a test bed for research but also for enhancing biodiversity and health and wellbeing.

This is a challenge for any trailblazing scheme that seeks to offer something different and to push the market forward, and it’s one that Ridge is used to helping developers meet, in the science sector and beyond. We know that attracting investors and occupiers is not always straightforward – but we also know that there are many opportunities to increase a site’s appeal, by taking time to understand their underlying business needs and to communicate how being part of a sustainable community can support them to achieve their goals.

Here are just five ideas from our extensive portfolio, which could help the UK’s emerging agri-tech sector to reach its full potential:

Link your vision to their long-term success

Developers can attract occupiers by underlining how the overall aims of the site can support them to attract both talent and investors. Like the RAU Innovation Village, Ecotricity’s Eco Park green tech campus in Stroud is also intended to be an exemplar of low-carbon development, not only in the buildings and infrastructure, but by prioritising pedestrian and cycle access over car travel. Our multidisciplinary team is helping to create the kind of healthy, active environment that tomorrow’s low-tech-carbon pioneers are seeking, and which investors will want to buy into.

Our multidisciplinary team is helping to create the kind of healthy, active environment that tomorrow’s low-tech-carbon pioneers are seeking, and which investors will want to buy into.

Demand for sustainable developments is being driven from the top, by investors seeking to green their portfolios, but also at a grassroots level, by employees’ changing expectations. Organisations seeking to recruit and retain the brightest Gen Z minds are facing tough questions about their environmental impacts. Both of these factors will become increasingly compelling selling points for sustainable science locations.

Emphasise what the community can offer them

The strongest science developers tailor their vision and their buildings to specific sub-sectors, so that they can offer facilities that are laser-focused on tenants’ needs, but also provide an environment where they will be rubbing shoulders with like-minded, complementary organisations. We have been involved in creating specialised facilities and communities around Big Data at Harwell, automotive innovation at Bicester Motion, and fusion energy at the UK Atomic Energy Authority campus. In all of these cases, we’ve been able to spell out the symbiotic, multiplier effects that result from buying into that vision – so occupiers are not just renting office or lab space, they’re becoming part of an ecosystem.

The Innovation Village at the RAU aims to become a global research destination for the agri-tech sub-sector, with spaces tailored to major corporates, start-ups and everything in between, as well as a conference centre, restaurant, farm shop, cafe and live-work units. Its regenerative approach to land use will only add to its appeal, and enhance the community that grows up around it.

Smooth out higher costs of entry

Rents in a sustainability-led development, with better quality, more energy-efficient buildings, may be higher per square metre than a standard shed – but these will be recouped over the life of the tenancy, as a result of lower energy and water bills. For start-ups or SMEs that are scaling up, and living from grant to grant, this front-loaded cost profile may present a challenge, so developers may need to offer wider community amenities to bridge the gap.

Support occupiers with greener fit outs

A developer’s responsibility may stop at the occupier fit-out, but they will want to ensure it matches the ethos of the wider campus, either by imposing landlord requirements or using mechanisms like green leases, where both sides are committed to reducing the environmental impact of a property. A good tenancy agreement would articulate the potential solutions too, presenting a menu of options rather than a list of constraints. Developers could also retain a fit-out team to help occupiers navigate an unfamiliar process, and achieve an outcome that works for both.

When Ridge designed the BREEAM Excellent Command Works for the Bicester Motion future mobility estate, our team also designed sample-fit-outs. These demonstrated how the needs of future tenants could be met, in balance with commercial viability and the sustainability and planning requirements of this sensitive heritage site.

Share ESG responsibilities

Some aspects of sustainability are easier to fulfil at scale. On our sustainable master plan for a Formula One campus, a multidisciplinary Ridge team is exploring how organisations might share their ESG responsibilities, for example on waste reduction. One solution for science parks might be to adopt a whole-site recycling strategy, which could be tailored to the occupants – in agri-tech, an anaerobic digester could process agricultural waste to produce energy.

With any first-of-its-kind development, persuading investors and tenants to embrace a new way of doing things can be difficult, but it is essential. The success of a community is down to its members, and even the most sustainable building will fail to live up to its design ideals if it is not operated efficiently. So we need to think differently and be prepared to take new approaches – to demonstrate that when it comes to realising our ambitions, the property sector can be just as innovative as the scientists.

Liz Sparrow is Architecture Partner based in our Oxford office. You can contact Liz on lsparrow@ridge.co.uk