New Cambridge Vitrum lab building approved despite 'grim' tag

The new building would be on Cowley Road, off Milton Road

A giant new laboratory and office building is to be built despite a councillor describing it as "grim".

The Vitrum Building, in Cowley Road in Cambridge, is to be demolished to make way for the "substantially" larger building.

The developer said it would provide "critical" lab space to attract world-leading life science companies to the city.

Local councillors granted the scheme planning approval.

While a majority of councillors on Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council's joint development control committee voted for the plans, some raised concerns about the size and design of the new building.

Martin Smart, Labour city councillor, said he appreciated the work that had been done to improve the proposals, but said they were still "not good enough".

"It is a grim looking building in straight forward terms; it is not a beauty; it is not designed well and does not sit well in its context," he said.

The Vitrum Building in the St John's Innovation Park is due to be demolished to make way for the "substantially" larger building

The new building would have 99 parking spaces, 5% of which would be for disabled drivers.

Breakthrough Properties, which is leading the redevelopment, told the committee that the new lab building would support the growth of life sciences in the city by offering "critical capacity".

The company said it had listened to concerns raised and reduced the building's height so that it was "lower than other approved buildings on the innovation park".

It added the building would be designed to exceed local and national sustainability targets and would not use any more water than the existing building did.

A spokesperson said: "We believe our plans present a significant opportunity for the city to enhance its global status as a life science super power with an iconic new building."