From insurer to innovator: the reinvention of Victoria House

Close your eyes and imagine a life sciences lab, and we bet it doesn’t look like Victoria House in London’s Bloomsbury neighbourhood.

That’s because neo-classical buildings designed and built more than a century ago aren’t considered typical candidates to be redeveloped into labs. Victoria House is a slice of British history; it was constructed for an insurer that pioneered life insurance for the working classes. The building overlooks Bloomsbury Square, which dates back to the 1660s and is among London’s oldest garden squares.

We are converting Victoria House into 300,000 square feet (sq ft) of state-of-the-art life sciences space at a time when the London life science and biotech sectors are experiencing a marked upswing in fundraising. Companies headquartered in the capital raised £752 million in Q1, a 305% increase compared to the previous quarter and 64% of the total raised in 2024, according to real estate consultancy DTRE. Laboratory take-up is rising in step with this momentum. Leasing reached 20,200 sq ft in the first three months of 2025 - twice the volume recorded during the same period last year - as more companies look to scale their operations.

This will be no easy feat. Historic buildings like Victoria House are rightly protected by law, so there are tight restrictions as to how they can be redeveloped. Lab operators also have a list of technical features that they need from buildings, and many modern customers want them to be as energy efficient as possible – another factor that would usually rule out historic properties like Victoria House. These are among the many reasons that, when people think of labs, they imagine ultra-modern buildings on industrial estates in the outskirts of cities.

“It's an unusual one: I don’t think many people would pick a grade II listed building and a former insurance headquarters as an ideal candidate to convert into a life sciences building, certainly one that's occupied by a number of customers as well, so we've set ourselves a big challenge to deliver that,” says Robin Everall, Head of Development, Europe, at Oxford Properties. “Thankfully, our North American colleagues have significant experience in life science conversions and have supported us from the outset.”

Oxford began investing in the life sciences sector in 2017 with the acquisition of 645 Summer Street in Boston, which gave us hands on experience in the design, leasing, construction and management of innovation space for lab customers. In 2021, we expanded our reach by acquiring numerous life sciences properties in key markets including San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. Globally, we now have 5 million sq ft of incubation, R&D and biomanufacturing space.

Spending time in Boston and San Francisco offered the UK team a vital perspective on “what the right product would be for the relatively nascent London market”, Robin says. “We were able to blend our knowledge of local market dynamics with a broader perspective of industry best practice, particularly when it came to the specification and the performance of the property: what do occupiers really need compared to just going with the prevailing knowledge." 

That included details like necessary floor-to-ceiling heights, vibration criteria, laboratory equipment or the number of air changes per hour – an industry technique vital in removing any bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. “It was helpful to have someone to bounce it off, someone that has been through it,” Robin adds. 

Promoting this kind of collaboration, both within the global development team and among the development, asset management, leasing and investing teams “is among Oxford’s top objectives,” says Dean Shapiro, our Global Head of Development. 

"What makes Oxford truly exceptional is our end-to-end capabilities, which is becoming increasingly rare among our peers," he continues. "By leveraging the strengths of each team, we can, as the saying goes, create a larger pie by working together."  Part of that process is finding ways to ensure the teams meet in-person. Oxford also has a Development Advisory Group, a committee of fourteen professionals that meet monthly to share information between teams.

“At each of those meetings, we are trading ideas, talking about what works, talking about what doesn't work,” says Veronica Maggisano, Oxford’s Vice President of Development in Toronto. “It’s a live example of how bringing the global community together can really benefit us, and I think we are leveraging it properly, and it’s working.” 

Demand for lab space remains robust, particularly in the so-called 'Knowledge Quarter' - the central London cluster that Victoria House calls home. By the end of Q1 2025, active demand in this area had reached 242,800 sq ft, with an additional 177,000 sq ft marked as upcoming or currently on hold, according to DTRE. Roughly 70% of that demand was focused in and around the Knowledge Quarter, underscoring its continued prominence as a hub for life sciences innovation. 

Inside Victoria House, early leasing momentum is evident. The incubator lab and serviced office spaces have already attracted 10 occupiers, signalling strong interest across the life sciences spectrum. Among them are four life sciences companies making use of the incubator lab, where they benefit from Pioneer Group’s extensive science network and partnerships. The tenant mix reflects the building’s versatility, ranging from nimble start-ups to established pharmaceutical firms and tech companies supporting the sector. Notably, the serviced office space - dedicated exclusively to life sciences - is a rare offer in London’s current landscape, and is proving a key draw for a diverse group of businesses. 

This success is, in part, thanks to Oxford’s decision to repurpose an existing structure rather than embark on a ground-up development, Robin says—a move that enabled faster delivery and a more sustainable outcome. By retaining embodied carbon and targeting sustainability credentials such as an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of B and BREEAM 'Excellent' certification, the project seeks to set a new benchmark for adaptive reuse in the sector. 

“It takes time to build a lab, you’ve got the planning process, you’ve got to procure it, build it out then release it, so we knew that conversions were a good way of beating the competition by two years to eighteen months,” Robin concludes. “But aside from all that, we know this is a growing sector and customers are sticky. If you give them what they need, they will stay and they will grow, and we can play a small part in the amazing stories and discoveries that come out of these labs.”