herzog & de meuron to develop astrazeneca’s cambridge HQ
aerial view of astrazeneca’s cambridge biomedical campus

 

 

 

astrazeneca has appointed herzog & de meuron as the architects to design its global R&D centre and corporate headquarters. situated on its cambridge, UK biomedical campus on the outskirts of the city–home to one of biopharmaceutical company’s three global strategic R&D centres–the £330 million investment will see the development of a central hub of labs that will foster collaborative work across the organization; while also providing easy access to the broader scientific community through an open design, ultimately helping astrazeneca improve its pipeline activity.

 

pierre de meuron, senior partner at herzog & de meuron, said: ‘cambridge is a university city with an important historical heritage, not only academic but also architectural and urbanistic. the historical architecture of cambridge is mostly low-rise with internal courtyards that provide protected environments for people in their study and work. we want some of these qualities to be brought into the new building. our response to the brief includes intimate spaces for concentration and work, as well as common spaces where everyone meets and comes together. the centre will be a great place for astrazeneca.’

 

 

herzog & de meuron to develop astrazeneca's cambridge HQ
division of astrazeneca’s programs at its cambridge campus

 

 

 

mene pangalos, executive vice president, innovative medicines & early development at astrazeneca said:
‘we want to create a site that supports our ambition of achieving scientific leadership, while blending into the fabric of the thriving local scientific community. we believe herzog & de meuron is the right firm to help us do this, with a great deal of relevant experience in developing functional, modern workplaces and pharmaceutical research facilities. I look forward to working with them and to sharing more detailed plans for the new centre soon.’

 

in 2014, approximately 400 astrazeneca employees, primarily scientists involved in research and development, will move to cambridge across three temporary sites at melbourn science park, the cambridge science park and granta park–currently home to astrazeneca’s biologics research and development arm, medimmune–with their transfer, ‘cementing the important relationships we are building with leading research, academic and healthcare organizations based in and around the city,’ added pangalos.