Tritax Symmetry and Siemens Healthineers have submitted a planning application for a cutting-edge, 56,000 sq m global R&D facility
Both Tritax Symmetry and Siemens Healthineers are the market leaders in magnetic resonance imaging and so the planning application to Cherwell District Council for a new global R&D facility in Oxfordshire would provide superconducting magnets for use in MRI systems.
The proposals for the global R&D facility will have a number of socio-economic benefits. These include:
- capital investment of £80 million into the economy
- Siemens Healthineers investment will contribute an additional £820 million to the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Oxfordshire economy by 2040
- Siemens Healthineers investment will add £360M to the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the UK economy
- creation of 670 construction jobs
- once the facility is fully operational, it will create 1,100 skilled jobs for physicists, engineers and cryogenic experts
- the unit will also retain over 500 Oxfordshire-based jobs
The Oxford site for the global R&D facility has been chosen because it meets operational requirements
The global R&D facility will be based on Symmetry Park, Oxford North, the 48-acre site, north of the A41 and east of Junction 9 of the M40. Siemens Healthineers extensively searched for an appropriate location before deciding on Oxfordshire. This site was considered to be the only site that can meet the operational requirements and timescales of Siemens Healthineers, which is facing increasing demand for its superconducting magnets.
The building will be bespoke to Siemens Healthineers’ design and production process, net zero carbon in construction, and in line with the guidelines set out by the UK Green Building Council’s framework. The global R&D facility will achieve a minimum rating of BREEAM Excellent and will incorporate substantial solar Photo Voltaic (PV) coverage on the roof.
‘The development of this new world-class facility at Symmetry Park, Oxford North will safeguard the significant knowledge, expertise and embedded supply chain benefits’
Jonathan Dawes, Planning Director at Tritax Symmetry, Jonathan Dawes, commented:
“The development of this new world-class facility at Symmetry Park, Oxford North will safeguard the significant knowledge, expertise and embedded supply chain benefits that have been established over the last 40 years within Oxfordshire.
“The proposals set out are accompanied by a thorough and robust assessment of all relevant technical matters, including highways and transportation, landscape and visual impacts, ecology, archaeology and heritage, and flood risk. Since the site was identified by Siemens Healthineers, we have undertaken a thorough public consultation and have continued to liaise with local planning officers throughout the process.”
‘Increasing demand for our superconducting magnets has meant we have outgrown our existing development and manufacturing facilities’
Ralph Seidler, managing director of Siemens Healthineers Magnet Technology, Oxford, added:
“Increasing demand for our superconducting magnets has meant we have outgrown our existing development and manufacturing facilities in Eynsham, located 13 miles away from Symmetry Park. Realising we needed a larger facility, we carried out an extensive search across the UK; this site is the only location that can meet our requirements.
“Subject to a positive planning outcome we will commence a phased transition from Eynsham to Oxford North, with changeover anticipated to complete by 2030, subject to the variable demand for product lines developed in the facilities.”
