In the last 18 months, we have conducted several feasibility studies for universities and landlords who wanted to ascertain whether an existing building could be converted into an Innovation Hub or to confirm if their plans to develop a new building make sense. Our team loves getting its teeth stuck into such projects, as they allow us to reach a definitive yes or no answer in a short period of time, while also absorbing everything there is to know about a new area or ecosystem.

We are very passionate about creating innovation for the benefit of UK plc. Therefore, we understand the great responsibility of providing the right answers, ensuring our clients avoid spending time and money on projects that lack potential.

So what do we look for in assessing these buildings (existing or new) ?

We use what we call an “A-B-C methodology”, which consists in asking ourselves the following 3 questions:

• A for Attractive: will the space and the area be attractive to the target market?

• B for Building: can such a space be built economically?

• C for Cluster: can the space become part of a cluster and an innovative community?

Across everything we do, the building is only ever 50% of the answer.

The other 50% is the potential for the building to be activated in a way that drives innovation. That’s why our feasibility studies focus on both aspects;

• Technical feasibility of constructing a suitable physical space, including consideration of design, MEPH adjustment, taking into account budget constraints and the overall business case.

• Ecosystem feasibility – identifying the right target tenants and creating a narrative around how this location will form a distinctive place for science and technology, how it links to universities and to other adjacent hubs, and what its specific purpose may be, based on its geographic characteristics or the pre-existing nature of a place.

Once we believe that a location is potentially suitable both from a technical and ecosystem perspective and that it can be delivered, we develop a business case based on our experience of designing, developing and operating innovation spaces.  This model will include sensitivity analysis of potential returns under stressed assumptions.

In our experience, if a building is well connected transport wise, it’s close to a university, has a landlord with a strong idea they want to implement (i.e. there’s a strong potential thematic angle that the Innovation Hub will pursue) and has certain characteristics from a building standpoint which allow the creation of labs and amenities  (ceiling height, reception space, floorplates that can allow convergence etc) then the answer tends to be that yes, it can be turned into an Innovation Hub.

Are you thinking about developing an Innovation Hub and want some help? Get in touch