LSP has two buildings
at the heart of the
Knowledge Quarter
Innovation spaces – by their very nature,
being told what to do simply creates a
desire to make sure it doesn’t happen.
This is the model we here at LSP have
adopted over the years and it has served
us well – us and the 250 companies we
have housed over the previous 12 years.
Whether they are laboratory based
companies, digital platform creators,
gaming companies, or key professional
services companies, the requirements of
being in the city remain the same.
A flurry of new facilities
Liverpool is now on the cusp of
a significant knowledge economy
breakthrough. Over the past two decades,
huge development has rippled up from
the Mersey, along the waterfront, the
commercial district, the world-leading
Liverpool 1 city centre, and now a post
Panamax deep water dock. Eyes are now
turning to the Knowledge Quarter, that
portion of the city centre slightly higher
up the hill, immediately behind mainline
Lime Street station and bordered by the
edges of the city’s two main universities.
In that wedge, which can be no more
than 1,000m at its widest point, are
located the two universities, the world-
renowned Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, and the Royal Liverpool
Hospital, with its new, £500m state-of-
the-art facility due to open next spring.
LSP is here as well, at the foot of the
iconic Metropolitan Cathedral and at the
centre of the action. The recent exciting
flurry of additional facilities in the
Knowledge Quarter, which operate on
the interface between knowledge and
business, are complementary and deepen
the mix. Key facilities such as Liverpool
University’s Bio-Innovation Hub, the
Hospital’s Accelerator with its Category 3
laboratories, Liverpool Universit y’s
Materials Innovation Factory, and the
jointly university owned Sensor City, have
all opened within the last 18 months. As
they start to fill, opportunities will start
to present themselves for the respective
tenants to benefit from streamlined
The two Liverpool
Science Park buildings
are less than 100m apart
advice, shared events, and opportunities
to mix together. That they are all within
400 yards of LSP only serves to enrich the
Innovation District mix.
At t h e c e n t r e o f t h e w e b
LSP is physically and conceptually at
the centre of this web. As the longest
established and most recognised element
of this commercial knowledge economy,
it is not resting on its laurels. Having
recently had its estate professionally
valued and with it having posted its
second annual profit, it is now looking to
establish how it can realise the value in
its assets, both to refine its physical offer
and to deepen further the services it
offers to its tenants. This might take
the form of additional borrowings or of
seeking external investment. As a not-
for‑profit company, it can only ever do
things for the benefit of its tenants.
What is clear is that as the tectonic
plates in the Knowledge Quarter shift
and developments rapidly evolve around
Paddington Village and on the now-
cleared Copperas Hill site, the pace
and level of opportunities will increase
rapidly. LSP will look both to drive and
to benefit from these opportunities. ■
For further information visit:
liverpoolsciencepark.co.uk
R e a d o n l i n e at: u k s pa . o r g . u k / b r e a k t h r o u g h
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