More than 1m sq ft of laboratory and workspace will be created in Liverpool Knowledge Quarter in the next 15 years under its new Blueprint for Growth. Tony McDonough reports
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Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) has unveiled its new Blueprint for Growth that will see a huge expansion in capacity over the next 15 years.
As part of KQ Liverpool’s “2040 vision”, the urban innovation district and placemaking organisation says it aims to create more than 1m sq ft of laboratory and workspace and a “range of inclusive innovation opportunities and inspire future generations”.
KQ Liverpool is a partnership bringing together the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool City Council, the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bruntwood SciTech.
In September 2024 the city council unveiled its updated plans for the ongoing development of the Knowledge Quarter. These include two new office and laboratory buildings – HEMISPHERE One and HEMISPHERE Two.
They will add to existing assets such as The Spine, a 155,000 sq ft office building that opened in May 2021 and Liverpool Science Park which sits in the shadow of the Catholic Cathedral.
This new vision, unveiled on Thursday, has been created following consultation with more than fifty local stakeholders and is underpinned by three core principles; to Convene and Collaborate, Amplify and Attract, Invent and Innovate.
As Liverpool and the wider city region continue to suffer from serious inequalities around issues such as health, education and deprivation, tackling those will be crucial to KQ Liverpool’s future plans, alongside support for the essential community work.
This will involve expansion of its existing KQ Futures programme, enabled through the Liverpool City Region Health and Life Sciences Innovation Zone, to engage and inspire local young people about the various career opportunities.
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In 2024, KQ Liverpool hosted hundreds of students at its innovation sites and published an illustrated children’s book, Animates: Learning in Liverpool, which was delivered to every primary school in the city region.
It will also seek to boost business growth, job creation and investment into the area while promoting the city region’s high-growth priorities around health and life sciences, materials innovation, AI and robotics.
This includes supporting scale-up as well as start-up businesses and simplifying the business support and funding landscape to encourage more innovation-led organisations to start, relocate and stay.
Sites for new development include Paddington South, Mount Pleasant and Copperas Hill. A new Merseyrail station is also set to open in 2027 at the nearby Baltic Triangle.
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Colin Sinclair, chief executive of KQ Liverpool, said: “The foundation of our success to date has been the strength of our partnership, exceeding expectations by challenging the norm and refusing to accept anything average or ordinary.
“Going forward, our 2040 vision amplifies that ambition. As a partnership, we will do everything in our power to make this place and peoples’ lives better.”
To read more about the Blueprint for Growth click here.