Domainex significantly expands its footprint, leasing the first of three new laboratory buildings at Unity Campus

Cambridge, 10th July 2023: Leading regional property investor and developer Howard Group is delighted to confirm the letting of Building A2 to Domainex, a leading integrated medicines research services partner and recent recipient of a King’s Award for Enterprise. A2 is one of three new laboratory buildings currently under construction at Unity Campus, all of which are due for completion later this year.

The three-storey Building A2 of over 24,000 sq ft has been designed to facilitate a 60/40 lab/office split and will be let fully fitted.  Laboratory areas will conform to CL2 wet laboratory standard, including provision for ducted fume hoods, cold rooms, and bottle wash areas, as well as a dedicated plant area (on the roof), external generator housing and bottled gas storage. The office space will also be fitted out to a high specification in accordance with Domainex's operational requirements. WC and shower facilities are included on each floor.

With sustainability an underlying principle both during construction and onward occupation, Howard Group is targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and an EPC rating of ‘B’ across all three buildings in this next phase of development. 

Domainex first moved to Unity Campus in January 2022, taking 7,000 sq ft in Iconix 2 to facilitate the company’s strong growth by providing a significantly larger laboratory footprint, especially for its biology services which are experiencing rapid adoption by life science organisations. The medicines research partner has continued to scale at pace, with an increase in headcount of over 50% in the last 12 months and record revenues over the last two years. The company has ambitious plans to double its revenue over the next three years, necessitating a further expansion of its facilities.  Having developed a collaborative relationship with Domainex as existing occupiers, Howard Group worked closely with the company to understand their needs and requirements, enabling Howard Group to offer the opportunity to expand on campus at the right time, rather than looking elsewhere. 

The fit-out of A2 will be delivered by Morgan Sindall - Unity Campus’ main contractor for the current development - on behalf of Howard Group. Richard Dickinson from One Nucleus is project managing the fit-out on behalf of Domainex. Once the fit-out is complete, Domainex will take occupation of the building by the end of the year.

Tom Mander, CEO, Domainex commented: “We are delighted to have secured this new build facility at the heart of the Unity Campus within the Cambridge UK bioscience cluster as we look to scale our business. This investment puts the company on the path to further sustained growth, the creation of opportunities for talented scientists and to accommodate an ever-expanding client base from around the world entrusting us to support their new medicines research efforts. We thank our partners who have supported us in securing this facility – Matt Smith and Mike Ayton at Dowley Turner Real Estate LLP and expert counsel from Jo Showan at Moss Solicitors. We also thank Nicholas Bewes, Katherine Friend and colleagues at Howard Group who have made us very welcome at Unity Campus. We look forward to the future with confidence to continue our growth with this key investment in new capacity.” 

The masterplan for Unity Campus has been purposefully designed to facilitate business interactions and collaboration, creating a place where entrepreneurs from around the world work, innovate and exchange ideas. Building on the industrial legacy of the nearby villages of Sawston and Pampisford, the bold urban aesthetic of the buildings will be offset by a network of connected green spaces and water meadows as well as a landscaped courtyard. 

By merging the traditional and modern, urban and rural, business and social, Unity Campus offers an entirely different working environment to all other science and research parks in the Cambridge area, creating a wider choice of location for technology and life science companies seeking laboratories or offices. 

Katherine Friend, Director Investment & Asset Management, Howard Group commented: “Having first welcomed Domainex to Unity Campus in early 2022, we have been delighted to see the company thrive to the point at which additional space was needed to keep pace with their current growth trajectory. Being able to facilitate that significant growth on Campus is particularly exciting for our team, having built up a strong and collaborative partnership with Domainex during our day-to-day interactions on Campus. Suffice to say, we are delighted to see the company go from strength to strength and we are proud to be partnering with them in facilitating the next stage of growth.” 

Interest in the two remaining buildings which make up Phase 2 at Unity Campus is extremely strong. Building A1 (32,500 sq ft) and Building B (31,000 sq ft) are due for completion in Q3, 2023.  Each provides a 60/40 lab/office split with provision for four ducted fume hoods, and dedicated plant facilities and are targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and EPC ‘B’ ratings. The buildings are being offered for single occupancy or floor-by-floor.

To discuss requirements in detail please contact Unity Campus’ joint agents, Rupert Dando (07813 624 276) and Tom Mellows (07870 555 955) at Savills - Paddy Shipp (07469 155 531) and Bridget Partridge (07921 309 816) at JLL.  Find out more: www.unitycampus.co.uk