It takes a leap of imagination to see it, but on the site of a crumbling 1970s office block a 10-minute walk from Cambridge station, plans are being drawn up for a brand-new campus that could help transform the city.
The project, a purpose-built, 80,000 square foot “innovation hub”, aims to bring together founders and investors to create companies that can spill out into the city’s many science parks. It is being promoted by Cambridge university and an alliance of developers and Big Tech interests.
Supporters point to similar schemes such as the Station F campus in Paris, the world’s largest start-up incubator, and the Kendall Square innovation cluster in the “other” Cambridge in Massachusetts. Projected to cost £200mn, it is expected to win seed funding from the UK government.