Blueprint debuts with £50m Notts science park

Regeneration group Blueprint has begun speculative development of the first phase of a £50m ‘green’ science park in Nottingham. The public-private partnership between English Partnerships, the East Midlands Development Agency and Morley Fund Management’s Igloo Regeneration Fund is proposing a 12-acre science park opposite Nottingham University in its first development since forming two years ago. Work has begun speculatively on the first 42,000 sq ft building, offering research and development units ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 sq ft in size Chief executive Nick Ebbs said No 1 Nottingham Science Park would sign its first tenants before the year-end. An automotive training academy for the city’s Castle College will also be built, with six acres retained for ‘design and build’ space. All buildings will use biomass fuel. The site’s green spaces will be open to the public, and linked to an adjacent nature reserve and the university’s lake. Innes England and DTZ are the joint agents.