Jamie Shearman of Morgan Sindall Construction felt the cost-of-living crisis only underlined the challenge Cambridge – and other regions experiencing high growth in the knowledge economy – have to address in making sure that communities are not left behind and talent ignored.
Can people starting their careers or working in junior roles within the sector afford to live in Cambridge? If they can’t afford to live here, Oxford, or London, we are creating a huge drain on the talent pool at the worst possible time.”
The panel agreed that being able to live near where you work would be important for people early in their careers or founders at the outset of a business.
“In an incubator setting, it’s not uncommon to hear of people so focused on what they're doing they are working 20-hour days,” observed Galvin Tarling.
It’s a nationwide problem. Cambridge, Oxford, and London are typically densified areas of high value property. They are that for reasons born over generations. And part of the reason that makes them expensive for property is the same reason that people want to research here, study here and stay here. These are structural challenges that I don't think we're going to solve with a real estate solution or by providing an extra bus service.”
Begging to differ, Emily Slupek pointed out how restrictive gaps in public transport can be, complicating journeys.
Progress on the £5 billion East West Rail plan to improve links between Oxford and Cambridge and wider parts of central and eastern England have stalled pending a government review. “New bus and train routes and stations are not a silver bullet, but they would improve accessibility,” she said.
Cambridge is blessed by being flat and cyclist friendly – and also has a Guided Busway system. “We haven't exploited the value of that yet,” said Galvin.
“There's still a way to go but certainly linking Cambridge Science Park to Cambridge North and the emerging CB4 development of the eastern fringe development.
That's a fundamental part of that infrastructure, together with link in Cambridge North, to Cambridge Central, through to the Biomed Campus and the South Cambridge Station when it comes online.”
That said, he felt technology was central. “I don't think trying to recreate a Victorian type of transport system is our answer. It’s about the way we conduct business.
There’s a modal shift happening and it’s not going to be answered by physical construction or better transport.
This cultural shift in the way that we work, and the way that we do business is becoming more pronounced within the Life Science sector, which relies on global collaboration. Technology is part of the answer.”
All of Mission Street’s development are within 15 minutes of a train station, pointed out Colin Brown.
He felt that while large infrastructure improvements are game changers, they take so long that other trends, such as more working in urban centres, prove more impactful.
There is a cultural shift to urban innovation districts, which are much more connected, not just in terms of their transport links, but also to proper community and to real amenity rather than curated community and curated amenity. It's nice to do yoga with other scientists on the campus, but it's probably preferable to go and do your own community hall five minutes down the road and actually engage with people outside of your sphere.”
Given that Life Science is largely about preserving life, the panel agreed that almost everyone in the sector was exploring ways of working that reduce our impact on the planet.
Are we reaching a point where investors will insist that portfolio companies do not occupy buildings that are less than BREEAM outstanding?
Colin Brown thought so: “It will become a commercial imperative. We're fortunate in as much as we have an ESG focused capital partner, who are always encouraging us to do the right thing. If it costs a little bit more money to make a highly efficient building, then so be it. Not everyone has that luxury."
If you think about delivering buildings in four years’ time, what will be considered commonplace? The commercial imperative around sustainability is not just for developers, but for occupiers and for their investors.
If you're looking at VC funds, they will be rated and remunerated on the ESG performance of their own investments.
That will flow down into the occupier requirements.
It will then affect the commercial terms that you're in to negotiate with occupiers and, ultimately, the attractiveness of your scheme against others in the market.
We're at the cusp of a tipping point. We’re about to see that making its way through the building design and performance.”
The panel agreed developing buildings now that have anything less than outstanding sustainability credentials is just storing up a problem.
There’s a question-mark over how compromised refurbished space will be viewed in a few years’ time when there is more space available. Put another way – expensive retrofit in a few years, or spend the money now.
It includes a detailed Decarbonising Communities strategy and a landmark research project known as Circular Twin where, with industry partners SCAPE, Cundall, Lungfish and HLM Architects, they created digital twin of a building that has already been completed.
The entire building was built again virtually to show the outcomes that could be achieved if every decision was made on the basis of sustainability. The results were stunning: a 67% reduction in Whole Life Carbon, a 72% drop in up front carbon and energy consumption down by 52%. Capex was delivered within standard budgetary parameters over the lifetime of the asset.
As soon as someone creates a pragmatic, lab focused sustainability carbon calculator, I think it would be a great day.”
In fact, Jamie Shearman said Morgan Sindall Construction has also developed a powerful software tool, CarboniCa, which supports decision making around carbon reduction.
The alignment of carbon measurement across projects, as well as greater knowledge and application of the metrics they output, would unlock consistent progression in the sector, he said.
From an operational perspective, Emily Slupek said there’s a driver around reduction and efficiency for tenants because the sector is energy intensive.
In terms of geopolitics, Galvin speculated that the biosecurity and sustainability agenda may lead to more elements of biotech to come back to the UK, making less use of China and India.
“There’s a lot of lobbying around manufacturing in a sustainable way and for all the functions, from R&D, innovation function, and manufacturing to take place locally.”
The panel agreed that the generation entering the workforce today will make decisions about where they want to work based on the company’s approach to sustainability. “It’s one of the first questions we are asked at interviews,” said Jamie Shearman.
