ISG’s £282m UCL neuroscience facility approved

University College London has been granted planning permission for a new £281.6m neuroscience building, which will be delivered by ISG.

The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and UK Dementia Research Institute was approved by Camden Council last week and is due to be completed by 2024.

It is part of the university's £1.25bn Transforming UCL programme and will include shared laboratory space for more than 500 neurological research scientists, as well as services and equipment that will support research across the university's neuroscience departments.

Plans also see the inclusion of a cafe, exhibition space and landscaping areas including a sensory garden and courtyard, which can be used by patients and members of the public.

ISG als won the preconstruction contract for the facility in April, while Arcadis was appointed for project management, cost management and specialist support services.

The site, on Gray's Inn Road, is currently home to the Eastman Dental Hospital and dental clinic. The EDH will be relocated but the building will be retained by the university and used for academic space.

UCL faculty of brain sciences dean Alan Thompson said the approval “will ensure this historic site remains at the heart of London’s cutting-edge health and science communities”.

The cost of construction will be funded through a combination of UCL, public and philanthropic sources.