24th February 2017

St John’s College and Turnstone appoints Vinci for the Maurice Wilkes Building

 

St John’s College have appointed VINCI Construction UK Ltd to build the prestigious Maurice Wilkes building on the St John’s Innovation Park, Cambridge.

The Maurice Wilkes Building is a distinctive and stylish headquarters building that stands at the gateway to the St John’s Innovation Park which is located at the centre of the North Cambridge Research and Development Cluster. Connections will be further improved in 2017 with the arrival of the new railway station and extended guided busway serving the cluster.

The building is to comprise 64,445 sq ft and is arranged over five floors, with an impressive reception and roof terrace measuring 2,077 sq ft.

Chris Goldsmith, of Turnstone, the Development Manager for the building, comments: “We are delighted to have awarded VINCI the £15 million contract to develop this building. We believe its contemporary design and finishes set new standards in the Cambridge office market and we have already secured a prestigious pre-let to Darktrace for the two upper floors. VINCI will be on site in the early spring and the building will be completed in June 2018”.

Suzie Wood of St John’s College, adds: “The appointment of a contractor to build this gateway building is a key milestone in the development of the St John’s Innovation Park that occupies one of the finest locations in Cambridge; at the heart of its business technology district. The decision to undertake development on a largely speculative basis is testimony to our confidence in the Cambridge market, the building and the delivery team”.

Aside from Turnstone, the delivery team comprises BCR Architects, Stace, Hoare Lea, Ramboll, WSP and Davis Landscape.

Savills are the planning consultants and along with Carter Jonas are the letting agents on the remaining space.