A former clothing factory in the heart of East London is set to be demolished to make way for a new building containing science laboratories and affordable workspace for local people.
Tower Hamlets Council’s Strategic Development Committee approved plans for a new life sciences building, ranging from five to nine storeys at 100-136 Cavell Street during a planning meeting on Thursday.
The building is the latest development to join the borough’s ‘world class’ life sciences cluster in Whitechapel, which will see a number of vacant plots next to the Royal London Hospital transformed into offices, specialised laboratories and educational space, MyLondon reports.
Life science is the study of living organisms and covers a wide range of disciplines from biology, to genetics, cell biology and neurobiology.
According to the magazine, the site is currently occupied by a former clothing factory, which shut down several decades ago before turning into office space – though it is now mostly occupied by property guardians.
The new building will provide 9,475sqm of purpose-built floorspace which will include 70 per cent ‘wet’ laboratory space and 30per cent ‘dry’ laboratory space.
Wet labs are where chemicals, drugs or other biological matter are tested and analysed while dry labs are similar to offices, and are where writing up reports on computers and analysing data takes place.
“During last week’s meeting, a planning officer said the building had been ‘carefully designed’ and will contribute to the ‘revitalisation of Whitechapel’.
“The plans will also see a ‘Knowledge Centre’ built on the ground floor which will be used for seminars, education and exhibitions related to science, technology and engineering.
“On the weekends and during the evenings, the space will open up for local community groups who will be able to use it for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities,” MyLondon reports.
