On Thursday 11th July, COEL’s Communication and Engagement Manager, Lizzie Bradbury, organised a ‘netwalk’ of a different kind, a ‘Tour of Cambridge Science Park’ on behalf of Women in Property.   

Led by Jane Hutchins, Director of Cambridge Science Park, the tour was an opportunity for attendees from a diverse range of disciplines within the property and construction sector (architects, agents, accountants, developers, and lawyers) to learn about this renowned centre for life science and tech innovation.  

The tour encompassed a walk from its hub at the Trinity Centre, past many of the buildings inhabited by global tech firms and took a closer look at some of the redevelopment projects taking place across the park.  

We stopped at the one of the park’s largest repurposing projects at 316 Cambridge Science Park (managed by Bidwells), which has had extensive construction work to be repurposed from an office to 21,635 sq ft of laboratories and new high-quality office space. This is one of the many construction and fit-out projects COEL has worked on in the Science Park, and demonstrates how converting office to labs has impressive benefits for tenants, offering modern Grade A workspace with energy-efficient systems including a new VRF heating and cooling system and EV chargers. 

The tour continued to the impressive Bradfield Centre, where we stopped and admired the extensive green space and beautiful water features, whilst Jane Hutchins talked through the sustainable initiatives across the park. 

The tour ended at the new home of Cambridge Science Centre, a charity dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to the life-enhancing opportunities that science offers. Our tour group enjoyed the various hand-on exhibits and found out more about the impact the centre has on young people across the region. 

Lizzie Bradbury summarised the events of the day: 

‘The COEL team is very familiar with Cambridge Science Park having worked on many projects over the years and we were keen to share some of the exciting developments happening, which are enriching the working habitat. There is no-one better placed to provide the tour than Jane Hutchins, Director of Cambridge Science Park. Jane’s charisma, experience and understanding of science parks is second to none and the positive impact she has had on Cambridge Science Park since arriving is phenomenal.

We are also delighted that the profits made from today’s tickets will be given to Cambridge Science Centre, an incredible educational facility providing fun and exciting scientific experiences and exposure for youngsters in the local area’

COEL would like to thank all who made the event possible: Cambridge Science Park for sponsoring the event, Jane Hutchins for her expertise in guiding the tour, Cambridge Science Centre for giving us a sneak peak of their wonderful new premises and not forgetting all who attended the event and helped raise funds for a very worthy cause  

More about Cambridge Science Park 

Founded over 50 years ago by Trinity College Cambridge, Cambridge Science Park is Europe’s longest-serving and largest centre for commercial research and development. The park comprises of 150 acres and is home to over 7K people at over 170 companies.