LONDON
Victoria House, a newly restored Grade II listed building in London’s Bloomsbury Square, officially opened its doors yesterday (16 September) as a state-of-the-art life sciences hub.
Developed by Oxford Properties and Pioneer Group, and delivered by contractor Wates, the 300,000 sq ft facility redefines the capital’s science and technology landscape. The building offers a unique combination of lab-enabled, fully fitted and incubator laboratory space and serviced offices within highly technical, tailored infrastructure – supporting the full lifecycle of life sciences companies as well as multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses, academic research institutions, government agencies, and venture capital firms.
The launch event brought together leaders from science, academia, venture capital and the UK parliament to celebrate this bold step forward in helping the country achieve its ambition to become a global leader in scientific innovation and commercialisation.
James Boadle, Managing Director, Europe, Oxford Properties, commented: “Victoria House is a unique Art Deco building and a superb example of how heritage properties can be reimagined to meet modern day requirements and standards of sustainability. The UK remains a world leader in life sciences and, building on its long track record of supporting experimentation, discovery and breakthroughs, the sector will continue to grow. With the leasing momentum already achieved, we have begun to build a strong science and tech-based ecosystem at Victoria House, with occupiers attracted by the wide range of offers from incubator spaces for start-ups to larger offices for established companies, alongside excellent amenities – all in a historic setting within London’s Knowledge Quarter.”
“With Victoria House, we’ve built an ecosystem engineered for rapid growth, capital efficiency, and connection.” said Richard O’Boyle, Chief Executive of Pioneer Group. “It’s about enabling scientists and entrepreneurs to scale faster, smarter, and in a space that inspires innovation. Centrally located and purposefully designed with future growth, Victoria House offers the expansion space needed to support large-scale experimental work in AI and drug development. With a strong pipeline of enquiries, the demand already proves the need for flexible lab space for early-stage ventures as well as large pharmaceutical companies looking to establish a London base with access to advanced infrastructure, modern amenities, and a highly interconnected ecosystem.”
Highlights from the launch event included:
- Unveiling of ‘Bridging the Capital Gap for UK Research Commercialisation’ - a report commissioned by Pioneer Group and The Crown Estate and authored by Henham Strategy, was revealed. The report outlines the investment and infrastructure needed to translate the UK’s scientific excellence into global impact.
- Panel discussion: Chaired by Toby Reid (Pioneer Group) and introduced by Matthew Weiner (The Crown Estate), a panel of industry leaders explored the report’s implications for the UK’s future in life sciences commercialisation:
- Alex Hammacher – Oxford Science Enterprises - Head of Strategic Operations & Corporate Finance
- Steve Bates - BIA – CEO
- Danuta Jeziorska, Nucleome Therapeutics - Founder and ex-CEO
- Robin Martin – Legal & General - Head of Investment Strategy and Research
- Innovation showcase: A curated Discovery Trail spotlighted scientific innovations and success stories from more than 20 businesses based at Pioneer Group’s sites.
- Industry reception: Entrepreneurs, investors, MPs, and policymakers came together to discuss the future of science and technology in the UK.
Victoria House is the first location in London to combine incubator labs with fully serviced office space in a Grade II listed building, specifically tailored for life sciences. The fourth floor is already home to nine digital health and AI-driven research start-ups including Deep Mirror, Caerulus Genomics, Neurocentrx, M2M Bio, and Forcefield Therapeutics, as well as clinical-stage biotech AAVantgarde Bio.
Residents in the incubator labs on the seventh floor include four early-stage companies – Xterna, AAVantgarde Bio, Curecraft, and Emles Bioventures – spanning research in cancer therapies, therapeutic proteins and next-generation health tech.
The building is also home to the BioIndustry Association (BIA), which established its UK headquarters at Victoria House last year.
Steve Bates, CEO of the BIA, said: “Victoria House is at the heart of the UK’s vibrant life science innovation ecosystem. It’s proved a fantastic home for the BIA from serendipitous meetings with key ecosystem players to the ability to utilise impressive board meeting rooms. The central location makes for easy connections across the UK, with global pharma, tech bio start-ups, universities and policymakers all in easy distance.”
Dr Jess Corry, CEO and co-founder of biotech start-up Xterna, one of the first businesses to move into Victoria House’s incubator labs, said: “It has been a brilliant opportunity to be the first in. We have been able to help shape the space to our needs, and the flexibility has been invaluable. One of the biggest advantages is access to core facilities. Victoria House offers shared equipment like confocal microscopes and flow cytometers, which would be prohibitively expensive for us to purchase outright. That’s a game-changer for an early-stage company where every penny counts. The building itself is also beautiful – very different from a typical lab environment – it’s a talking point for attracting talent.”
CBRE and JLL act as joint leasing agents. For enquiries or more information, visit www.victoriahouselondon.com.
