22 Nov London’s first BioHotel to open at White City Place

OpenCell will open the first ‘BioHotel’ in London at the WestWorks Building at White City Place, as part of a deal signed with Cadillac Fairview and Stanhope.

The 17-acre business and life sciences hub will welcome the BioHotel in March 2022, with around 15,000 sq ft of lab and office space.

David Camp, CEO of Stanhope, said: “It was bold that Mitsui and AIMCo decided to take a punt with Stanhope as co-investors on buying the BBC media village buildings in 2015 and to create a pharma and life sciences hub at White City Place.

“White City Place is now owned by Cadillac Fairview and home to businesses including GammaDelta Therapeutics, Novartis and biopharmaceutical firm Autolus and a number of groups have moved to the area to be closer to where the action is.

“The life sciences sector is not having a short-term boom, it is on a big growth spurt path.”

The BioIndustry Association and Clarivate confirmed a massive £3billion has been raised in the biotech and life sciences sector in 2021.

The BioHotel will deliver start-ups and co-working labs on a flexible basis, with OpenCell creating a cluster of small labs available for short-term rent. The scheme will include a lab coat laundry service, PPE vending machines and a store selling lab equipment.

Helen Steiner, Co-Founder of OpenCell, said the BioHotel is designed to “let companies focus on their tech instead of investing time and money into their infrastructure, focus on providing a one-stop-shop for everything life science needs.”

Stanhope, Mitsui and AIMCo bought the former BBC television centre buildings in 2015 to develop a pharma and life sciences hub, which is currently in operating in 900,000 sq ft of innovation district space.

Other biotech firms at White City Place include Engitix, GammaDelta Therapeutics, Adaptate Biotherapeutics, Autolus and Novartis.