Robertson Construction Tayside has delivered the University of Dundee's Life Sciences Innovation Hub, a cutting-edge centre designed to speed up collaboration between industry and academia and strengthen Scotland's life sciences ecosystem.

The hub underpins the Scottish Government's Life Sciences Strategy, launched at the site, which targets growth of the sector to £25 billion by 2035. Funding includes £20.2m from the Scottish Government through the Tay Cities Region Deal, alongside support from Scottish Enterprise, the Wolfson Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the UK Government via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and the University of Dundee.

Spread across three storeys and two wings, the 54,000 sq ft building is purpose-built to nurture high-growth biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, giving both start-ups and established firms space to scale. Early occupiers include Effectus Research, Phaser Biomedical and the recently announced Chemveda Life Sciences.

Robertson led the design and build of a highly flexible, modular workspace that can expand with tenants. The facility combines high-specification laboratories with modern offices and shared amenities, including networking spaces, meeting rooms, kitchens, showers and secure cycle storage. Turnkey chemistry labs support biopharma activity, while a central atrium creates a lively communal area to foster collaboration among entrepreneurs, researchers and students.

-- Advertisement --

In line with the University's commitment to achieve net zero by 2045, the project adopts a fabric-first approach to energy performance, supported by a smart building management system and deep-bore ground source heat pumps that provide renewable heating and cooling.

Morag Martin, Innovation Cluster Manager, University of Dundee, said: "The new Life Sciences Innovation Hub in Dundee marks a major step forward for Scotland's life sciences research and innovation ecosystem. We're grateful to Robertson Construction for their excellent work in bringing this world-class facility to life — a building that will anchor and support high growth life sciences companies and enable the translation of cutting-edge research and innovation into new therapeutics and technologies, delivering both future health benefit and economic impact for our region."

Elliot Robertson, Chief Executive Officer, Robertson Group, said: "The University of Dundee has  a world-class reputation in life sciences research, and this new Innovation Hub provides the kind of high-quality environment needed to turn that strength into commercial growth. By creating flexible, future-ready space for companies at different stages of development, the facility will help accelerate collaboration between academia and industry while supporting Scotland's ambition to grow the life sciences sector to £25 billion.

"This project reflects our experience in delivering complex, specialist buildings for the life sciences sector and our strong relationship with the University of Dundee. Working closely with partners, the focus has been on delivering a facility that supports innovation, creates skilled jobs and contributes to long-term economic growth for the city and the wider region."

Working alongside BioDundee — the regional life sciences membership organisation that links industry, academia and the NHS — the hub will help stimulate collaboration, business growth and inward investment.

Separately, in 2024 Robertson completed a refurbishment of medical technology facilities that form part of TayMedConnect, advancing MedTech innovation through partnerships between academia, the NHS and industry to improve healthcare and support economic growth.