The NIHR Newcastle BRC is located at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality, at the heart of the Health Innovation Neighbourhood and is central to the research that will provide the basis for this transformative initiative and the exciting future it will provide for research in ageing and health in the North East.
Research and innovation will interweave with a vibrant, mixed-use community. Interdisciplinary primary healthcare provision aims to incorporate education and research and residential elements aim to create a range of multigenerational homes across tenures such as co-living units, market rent and supported living homes. This is the mission of developing the 29-acre brownfield site to the west of Newcastle city centre.
The Newcastle University led initiative will provide 350,000 sq ft of research and innovation space, a further 350,000 sq ft of business employment and education space, and 100,000 sq ft of NHS and other health-related facilities, alongside 1,250 new homes, of which up to 15 per cent will be affordable. Sustainability is part of the plan: two transport hubs will support the site, enhancing connectivity with new east-west links across the site. Green corridors and 24 development plots centred around a large open space will be incorporated, too.
Professor Chris Day, vice-chancellor and president of Newcastle University and the first Director of the NIHR Newcastle BRC, said:
"Our planned Health Innovation Neighbourhood builds on our world-leading expertise in healthy ageing and will be the first of its kind in the UK, tackling major health and social challenges with the aim of identifying solutions that will benefit people here in the North East and beyond. "We are delighted that the detailed masterplan of our exciting development has been given the green light to put ageing and health at the heart of a flourishing community which will bring together research, innovation, commerce and living."
"Our planned Health Innovation Neighbourhood builds on our world-leading expertise in healthy ageing and will be the first of its kind in the UK, tackling major health and social challenges with the aim of identifying solutions that will benefit people here in the North East and beyond.
"We are delighted that the detailed masterplan of our exciting development has been given the green light to put ageing and health at the heart of a flourishing community which will bring together research, innovation, commerce and living."
In Newcastle, we are a global leader in ageing and health research and innovation with the NIHR Newcastle BRC at the front. The neighbourhood will contribute to strengthening this position, bringing together academic research, healthcare providers, and commercial partners to work alongside researchers, local industry and communities who will also be at the heart of this collaborative network.
With a mission to drive pioneering research, the BRC serves as a catalyst for innovation to tackle some of the most pressing health challenges of our time. The Health Innovation Neighbourhood will benefit our work, offering the opportunity to grow and reinforce our role as leaders in the study of ageing and multiple long-term conditions (MLTC). We are the only one of the 20 BRCs across England that is dedicated to this study area and the only BRC outside of the South East (London, Cambridge, and Oxford) to have been awarded NIHR BRC status in every funding round since 2007. That’s four consecutive funding awards from the NIHR and 17 years of experience in world-leading translational research here in the North East of England. Therefore, we are excited to see the area around the Biomedical Research Building developing into a new hub of health care and research.
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