Hauxton Mill SciTech

New life science and tech incubator campus, re-purposing a Grade II listed water mill to establish new laboratories and co-working space across 2.8 acres.

Client o2h
Sector Research & Education
Size 11,500m²
Location Hauxton, Cambridgeshire

The redevelopment of Hauxton Mill is creating a new Life Science campus and tech start-up incubator in Cambridge – the o2h Mill SciTech park.

We were appointed to masterplan the formerly derelict 2.8 acre site, which is traversed by the River Cam and a popular local public footpath.

Innovative developer o2h asked us to create an accessible and inclusive asset for innovative entrepreneurs with a range of disciplines from AI and gene therapy to collaborative research.

Our designs re-purpose a 19th Century Grade II listed water mill as a 550m² research facility and establish a new state of the art laboratory building along with upgraded entrance routes, landscaping and public café.

Existing heritage mill

Prashant Shah, CEO o2h
‘I’ve been working with Fathom for three years on a masterplan to unpick a heritage site with incessant issues and complications. Creativity can come from a flash or from rigorously and methodically testing every alternative, and that’s what you get from Fathom.’

Designing for collaboration

Our masterplan aimed to establish a dialogue and degree of transparency between the local community and the specialist research taking place on the campus.

Positioning and orientation of buildings has been carefully considered to promote transparency between research disciplines as well as the wider community, with public spaces including riverside footpaths and cafe.

The Old Mill House has been refurbished to provide co-working laboratory and social spaces as the first phase of development, with a new build laboratory and refurbished watermill to follow.

Taking design cues from the simple form of the heritage buildings, our new laboratory is proposed as a straightforward volume, stepping down as it approaches the Old Mill House.

Externally, the ground floor façade is constructed with buff coloured brick to echo the materiality of the mill, with upper floors clad in charred timber referencing local agricultural structures.

A warm welcome is established with a double-height glazed entrance featuring built-in terraced seating to host town hall events and lectures.

With Phase I complete, the Mill SciTech Park is already establishing itself as one of the region’s most exciting communities of entrepreneurs in life-science, technology and social enterprise.

Design development is progressing in close collaboration with the local planning team.