London holds a significant pipeline of new developments earmarked for research and development use and has recently delivered a number of newly considered ‘innovation districts’, propelling itself into the centre of the UK’s vision to become a global leading science superpower.

The Innovation Districts Expert Panel have identified key themes to not only catalyse and celebrate this growth for London, but also explore how to harness the quality of innovation districts and their wider reach into communities and the environment.

Sustainability, in particular energy and carbon reduction, is a notoriously difficult predicament for the providers and users of laboratory buildings.  The ever-evolving nature and sheer variety of activities carried out within laboratory buildings provides a difficult backdrop for the formulation of prescriptive targets and ‘one size fits all’ approach to achieving sustainability.  The panel has identified a need for more guidance in this area so, whilst acknowledging the intangibility that precludes the provision of set requirements and outcomes, endeavours to provide a framework presenting the questions to be asked and the debates that should be undertaken to give true credence to sustainability and the impacts and implications of design decisions.

The panel explores the definition and the value of an ‘innovation district’, considering what is meant by ‘innovation district’ and how this may differ from, and indeed excel over, a more traditional approach to the space that otherwise hosts innovation activities.  It seeks to discern what makes an innovation district work and how it can be optimised to become more than the sum of its parts through the built environment, policies and initiatives put in place to feed creativity and collaboration. This theme considers the importance of longevity of the spaces, inclusivity of community in an urban setting and place-making to enhance well-being, human interaction, ideas and productivity.

London is part of the well-known ‘Golden Triangle’, a huge growth area in innovation and pivotal in the UK’s endeavours to be global leading on the world stage, but how should London pitch itself and elevate itself further in this sector globally?  The panel is considering what is London’s USP, comparing it in similarities and differences to the more established Cambridge and Oxford ‘clusters’, and how this should be presented and marketed in the world.  London, as a large city and urban location, necessitates the spread of innovation districts across different areas, with locational segregation, but can London be more than a combination of disparate clusters and instead be viewed holistically, with complementary, not competing, innovation districts that contribute to a greater offering and successful macro-cluster of London as a whole.

The themes are being expanded upon to provide three papers on each of these key topics to influence better spaces, clearer guidance and recognition on the global stage, to propel London and the UK further towards their vision to be a global leading superpower, harnessing quality, encouraging sustainability and enhancing creativity in the spaces we provide.