Morgan Sindall has won an £11.5 million contract to construct the principal commercial research and development building at Norwich Research Park.

The design and build contract will see the Morgan Sindall team construct the new Centrum building. The four-storey building will provide 4,000 sq m of high quality facilities including laboratory and office space, a business centre and formal and informal meeting rooms.

The Centrum building will also include a restaurant and café, a breakout area and exhibition and circulation space. These social and formal spaces will provide a platform to enable the business community to interact with researchers on the Norwich Research Park.

Alan Giles, Project Director at Norwich Research Park, said: "We are pleased to award Morgan Sindall this contract after a rigorous OJEU tender process. This is an important milestone in the development of the Research Park and the Centrum building will be the focal point for business and research to come together.


"Centrum will provide additional commercial laboratory and office accommodation for more established companies wishing to locate to Norwich Research Park. For companies already on the Park, it will provide them with the grow-on space in which to further expand their business."

The development forms a key part of 'Project 26', which refers to the £26 million funding awarded through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in the 2011 Government Budget. The funding has been awarded to Norwich Research Park to improve the Park’s IT infrastructure, road network and provide new flagship buildings.

The Centrum development will be located centrally on the Norwich Research Park adjacent to the existing Recreation Centre and Conference Centre on the John Innes Centre site. It will provide a hub for the local science and business community, and will also facilitate collaboration amongst the Research Park's occupants.

The project is due to complete in March 2014 and will see around 80 people from the local area working on site at the peak of construction. The development is on track to achieve a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) rating of Excellent.

(CD/GK)