CGI of the Imperial College London School of Public Health. PICTURE: IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
A major new innovative medical research hub is coming to White City.
Imperial College London is set to build its state-of-the-art School of Public Health facility on its bustling Wood Lane campus.
The new development will allow Imperial’s leading world health researchers to be located together for the first time in a dedicated building. They will work on pioneering new approaches to society’s most pressing healthcare challenges – from fighting deadly infectious diseases to the treatment of dementia.
The School of Public Health will further strengthen the already booming tech district in White City, which includes life sciences giant Novartis, the world’s first bio-tech accelerator RebelBio and the latest arrival GammaDelta Therapeutics.
“This is a fantastic new addition from Imperial to our thriving tech district in White City,” said Cllr Andrew Jones, H&F Cabinet Member for the Economy and the Arts. “We aim to make the borough one of the leading destinations in the country for the bio-tech, digital and creative industries.”
The new School of Public Health building is a result of the council’s Industrial Strategy (pdf) in partnership with Imperial to make H&F the best place to live, work and play in Europe.
“We’re bringing the local economy into the 21st century,” Cllr Jones added. “At the same time, we want to ensure that all residents benefit from the growth and development we’re seeing in H&F.”
Public health hub
Imperial is set to work in partnership with the local community in White City. It will bring cutting-edge research expertise to solve the public health challenges that affect the local community most profoundly – and then apply this learning to shape the future of public health across the globe.
Professor Deborah Ashby, Director of the School of Public Health, said: “Our new School of Public Health at White City will be an outstanding hub for research, education and community engagement.
“I believe that we will be in a very strong position to improve health on both a local and global scale by strengthening the public health science base, training the next generation of public health leaders, and influencing health policies and programmes around the world.”
We’ve got chemistry
On the other side of the north campus, Imperial has recently unveiled a new research home for its Department of Chemistry.
The Molecular Sciences Research Hub, which opened last autumn, brings together nearly 800 scientists, clinicians, engineers and business partners who are collaborating under one roof for the first time.
It means that researchers from a range of backgrounds will address common challenges in areas such as energy, the environment and health care.
Find out more about the work of the Molecular Sciences Research Hub.
More genuinely affordable homes
Imperial is also delivering 59 new genuinely affordable homes for local key workers in White City.
H&F Council secured the homes for the college’s key workers, Imperial NHS staff, teachers and emergency services staff before construction started in May 2016 on the ever-growing campus.
The building works at Eighty Eight Wood Lane are almost complete on the iconic 34-storey building which will consist of furnished studio, one, two and three-bedroom homes.
Key local workers are scheduled to move into the new genuinely affordable homes later this year.
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