Park Hospital/Old Road Campus
Where is it?
The Old Road Campus in Headington is dedicated to medical science research and has been a key site for the University, since it was purchased in 1996, due to its proximity to the Churchill, John Radcliffe and Warneford Hospitals, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, and clinical research facilities. We acquired the adjacent former Park Hospital site in 2013.
What is there?
Since then, the University has built a number of new research facilities here, including the Kennedy Building, the Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM Building), and most recently a new biomedical research centre which opened its doors in May 2017 – the Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, incorporating two research institutes: the Big Data Institute and the Target Discovery Institute. As part of its sustainability strategy, the building incorporates a ‘labyrinth’ – a network of air intake tunnels beneath the building to cool incoming air in summer and help reduce heating costs in winter.
Our vision
We have outline planning consent to develop the remaining plots identified in the masterplan for medical research use. The plan gives guidance on building heights, total development area and environmental mitigation including transport and parking.
What is happening now?
A new building is under construction, due for completion in Summer 2018, which will house the BioEscalator – a hub for innovative biomedical science in Oxford, providing flexible spaces for developing businesses – and a research centre that will be occupied by diabetes therapeutics company Novo Nordisk, with which the University has forged a strategic research alliance. The building also has an amenities function, and will provide a multi-storey car park for campus staff, a central kitchen and a distribution centre for deliveries.
What will happen next?
The temporary car parks will be closed once the new multi-storey is completed and the remaining plots on the campus will be developed as and when funding is available.