Woodbourne Group Launches £90m Birmingham BioCity – the First Investment Zone Life Sciences Building Outside London
The 130,000 sq ft canalside facility in Birmingham’s Knowledge Quarter targets the wave of IP-rich life sciences SMEs priced out of London and Cambridge
Woodbourne Group has today launched Birmingham BioCity at MIPIM, the world’s leading property conference in Cannes. The 130,000 sq ft purpose-built life sciences building will deliver fitted CL2 laboratories, offices and collaboration space and is the first UK Investment Zone life sciences building to come forward outside London.
Situated within the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter – a £4 billion innovation district backed by UK Investment Zone status – the building offers occupiers tax incentives, reduced business rates and government-level support. A planned canalside walking route will connect the site to HS2 Curzon Street station in around eight minutes, with Birmingham-to-London journey times of 42 minutes once services begin.
This follows on from Woodbourne Group’s £400m partnership with global real estate investor Hines to drive forward the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter which was announced at the UK Government’s Regional Investment Summit in October 2025.
Addressing a structural gap
The launch comes as demand for Grade A lab space across the UK far outstrips supply. Named demand in the Golden Triangle reached 2.0 million sq ft in H1 2024, while prime lab rents in London and Cambridge now sit at £140 and £80 per sq ft respectively. Cushman & Wakefield’s analysis confirms the undersupply is structural, not cyclical and the pipeline of competing space that aligns with current market conditions in core locations remains thin.
The UK life sciences sector is worth an estimated £100 billion and supports around 400,000 jobs. But as the government’s Industrial Strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan make clear, growth is increasingly driven by small, IP-rich firms – spin-outs, start-ups and scaling companies – many of which struggle to find affordable, high-specification lab space outside the south-east.
Birmingham BioCity is designed to meet that need. The West Midlands health and life sciences ecosystem supports 366,000 jobs across 10,000 businesses and generates £14.6 billion in GVA. The building targets BREEAM Outstanding, WiredScore Platinum and an EPC ‘A’ rating, with a flexible 60/40 lab-to-office split.
Birmingham BioCity’s 130,000 sq ft is Phase 1 of Woodbourne Group’s 600,000 sq ft life science development pipeline, projected to unlock £210 million of investment. The broader Knowledge Quarter programme is expected to deliver £3 billion in GVA and 47,600 jobs.
Speaking following the MIPIM launch
Tani Dulay, CEO, Woodbourne Group
“Birmingham BioCity is the first phase of a new life sciences cluster within the £4bn Birmingham Knowledge Quarter. Positioned next to the HS2 Innovation Line, it connects the development to the UK’s Golden Triangle talent and research pipeline while delivering institutional-grade laboratory infrastructure at a scale and cost those markets increasingly cannot match, uniquely strengthened by its full designation within the UK Government’s Investment Zone programme.”
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands
“Birmingham BioCity is exactly the kind of investment our Growth Plan is designed to unlock. By bringing forward state-of-the-art life sciences infrastructure, directly connected to London and international markets, this development strengthens the West Midlands’ role at the forefront of UK innovation and creates a powerful platform for future prosperity.”
John Cotton, Leader, Birmingham City Council
“Birmingham has a proud history of innovation and Birmingham BioCity is set to further enhance our growing status as a premier, world-class hub for life sciences and health technology. Located at the heart of Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, our transformational, government-backed Innovation District, this state-of-the-art, sustainable development is the perfect place for thriving businesses looking to start up, scale and grow.”
Charlie Nunn, Group Chief Executive, Lloyds Banking Group
“It’s brilliant to see the next phase of the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter brought to life, as a longstanding partner to Woodbourne Group. There is immense ambition and cross-sector collaboration to generate jobs and growth across the West Midlands, as projects like these exemplify. Lloyds is proud to support Woodbourne Group and other innovative, high-growth businesses in this important city and region.”
Neil Rami, Chief Executive at the West Midlands Growth Company
“The launch of Birmingham BioCity is a major milestone in the development of Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, reinforcing the region’s rise as a diverse and dynamic life sciences investment hub beyond the UK’s Golden Triangle. With the growth plans of innovation-led businesses across the sector increasingly being hindered by a lack of cost-effective, high-spec lab space, the West Midlands offers a compelling solution, bolstered by its flagship Investment Zone. Life changing science starts here.”
Mark Wild, CEO of HS2 Ltd said:
“Located just minutes from Curzon Street Station, Birmingham BioCity is yet another example of the innovation, investment and regeneration taking place in the city. Set to benefit from high-speed connectivity, access to world-leading universities and talent, it will play a vital role in the West Midlands’ Growth Plan, creating high paid, high skilled jobs for local people.”
