Mace to Exit £200m Oxford Labs Scheme After Foster Redesign

Mace Construct will leave the £200m Daubeny Buildings project at Oxford Science Park at the end of this year, following a major redesign of the partially built scheme.

The contractor will complete its present package before handing the next stages to a new builder. The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) has yet to name Mace's replacement, although Sir Robert McAlpine is among the contractors being linked with the next phase.

McAlpine's potential involvement comes shortly after the contractor handed over the £4bn Agratas battery gigafactory in Somerset to rival TSL, following a change in construction delivery strategy while cladding was being fitted to the mega-shed. McAlpine had been construction manager on the giant battery plant before Agratas decided a different delivery model was needed for the next phase.

A Mace Construct spokesperson said: "Following the completion of our phase of works at Daubeny, Mace Construct will hand over the next stages of the project to a new contractor."

"Over the past four years, our team has been proud to play a significant role in the successful delivery of key elements of this important development."

"Our focus now is on concluding our activities by the end of the year, ensuring a smooth transition, and we wish the client and the incoming contractor every success with the next phase of delivery."

Mace had been gearing up to restart work after planning approval was secured for a radical Foster + Partners redesign of the scheme. The contractor had been on the job since summer 2024 and topped out two of the three six-storey laboratory and office buildings before work was halted last October following EIT's acquisition of the site.

The original Scott Brownrigg scheme has since been substantially reworked, turning three standalone buildings into one interconnected research complex. The overhaul requires significant surgery to the partially completed structures.

Sections of the upper floors and building envelope will be stripped out and existing plant removed. Two large new atriums will link the three buildings. Most of the concrete structures will be retained.

The western atrium will contain meeting rooms, seminar spaces, a café and a 175-seat auditorium. The eastern link will provide collaborative workspace and a 250-seat auditorium. A rooftop greenhouse will also be added.

The completed complex will house EIT's Plant Biology and Generative Biology institutes.

The Daubeny development forms part of EIT's wider Oxford campus backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. The 190,000 sq m campus masterplan is ultimately planned to provide research, leisure and catering facilities for up to 7,000 people. Consultant Ridge is providing planning, project management and cost management services.

The identity of the incoming contractor, and how it sequences the strip-out and atrium works around the retained concrete frame, will determine the pace of the next phase on one of Oxford's largest active science projects.