Imperial expands new White City campus

Imperial College London has purchased 11.5 acres in White City to expand its new campus, Imperial West.

The College will complete the purchase of 11.5 acres from Aviva in August 2013. Combined with the land which Imperial bought from the BBC since 2009, the College’s total landholding for its new campus will increase to 22.75 acres. The plots form one contiguous site adjacent to the A40.  

The investment in additional land will allow the College to increase its capacity for delivering its vision for research and translation activities at Imperial West. At the launch event in March 2013 attended by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, and Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, the College invited proposals from potential global partners in business, industry and academia to co-locate on the campus.

Sir Keith O’Nions, President & Rector of Imperial College London, said: “We have presented a bold vision for Imperial West and the new land will allow us to undertake research, translation and commercialisation with partner organisations on an unprecedented scale for London and the UK. We are interested in attracting academic and business partners to work alongside Imperial at the new campus.”

The first buildings at Imperial West, providing accommodation for 606 postgraduate students and early-career researchers, are already in use.

Design work is underway for the £150 million Research and Translation Hub, which will provide facilities for 1,000 scientists and engineers and space that could accommodate 50 or more spin out companies. Construction of the Hub, which is funded by investor Voreda and a £35 million award from HEFCE, in addition to the College’s investment, is on course for completion in 2015.

The new Imperial West campus is a major boost to the regeneration of the White City area. Existing plans include homes, publicly accessible green space, pedestrian subways and leisure and retail facilities, alongside the creation of thousands of jobs.