Groundbreaking held at the Aspen Building

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held at The Oxford Trust’s new 17,000 sq ft Aspen Building.

Beard Construction has begun work on the £7 million lab development alongside the existing Linden Building and Science Oxford Centre at the Wood Centre for Innovation at Headington.

As well as labs the building will have a STEM resources room so the trust can host education and engagement programmes, which will be delivered by Science Oxford. Up to 80 new jobs are expected to be created at the building.

Those attending the groundbreaking ceremony included Steve Burgess, John Boyle, Nicki Campling and Francesca MacLennan from The Oxford Trust; Mark Beard, Sam Payne and Dave Fisher from Beard Construction; Wayne Dobbins and Trudy Tsang from ADP and Roger Prior and Andy Bramwell from Gleeds.

Steve Burgess, chief executive of the trust, said: “Today marks a major milestone in The Oxford Trust’s 40-year journey as we celebrate the signing of contracts and the start of construction of our new Aspen Building.

“The facility will offer essential lab and office space for start-up and early stage grow-on science and tech companies, helping to strengthen the Headington Science Cluster and wider innovation ecosystem capabilities. A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved. We eagerly anticipate watching this building take shape, ready for occupation in summer next year.”

Practical completion is due in early Summer 2026 and the office and lab spaces are available to pre-let.

The project team for the Aspen Building includes ADP Architects, Carter Jonas, BSG Ecology, Landshape, Glanville, Gleeds, Sylva Trees and CPW.

Image (l-r): Sam Payne (project manager, Beard Construction); Steve Burgess (chief executive, The Oxford Trust); John Boyle (chair of trustees, The Oxford Trust); Mark Beard (chair, Beard Construction): Nicki Campling (director of innovation and operations, The Oxford Trust) and Dave Fisher (commercial manager, Beard Construction).

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