For eight decades, Harwell Campus has been at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation. Today, world-leading scientific facilities – including Diamond Light Source, the Rosalind Franklin Institute, ISIS Neutron and Muon Source and the National Quantum Computing Centre – neighbour hundreds of thriving companies in a unique innovation environment.
As we celebrate our 80th anniversary, we want your input to help shape our vision for the next 20+ years.
We had a wealth of feedback to our initial consultation earlier this year, from our neighbours as well as the scientists and organisations that call the campus home. From suggestions about adding everyday amenities and making the campus even more open to the wider community to increased investment in sustainability and transport improvements, all responses have fed into the creation of our Vision 2050.
We are now launching a second round of public consultation to show our updated plans and invite further comments. This will include events where you can meet members of the campus team, ask questions, and learn how your feedback so far has helped to shape our long-term plans.
Harwell Campus is already a cornerstone of Oxfordshire’s innovation economy, and getting its long-term vision right matters for the whole region. This consultation is an important step in ensuring the campus continues to attract investment, talent and collaboration at the scale needed to drive sustainable growth across Oxford and beyond.
Neale Coleman CBE, Chair of the Oxford Growth Commission
As a 700-acre former RAF base in the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, Harwell Campus is a unique asset for the region. Despite its global standing, only around one third of the site has been developed so far, leaving plenty of space to continue to grow to meet the needs of scientists, entrepreneurs and engineers making the discoveries of the future.
More than 148 acres are immediately available for development, enough to deliver as much as 2.5 million sq ft of floorspace. The remaining land will be released in phases over the next 20 years, allowing the campus to grow in a sustainable and considered way that reflects new technologies and responds to market conditions whilst also respecting the needs of our neighbours.
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Harwell Campus is not your average science park. It has evolved over decades – a unique result of the extraordinary history that makes the campus so distinctive.
Vision 2050 can deliver more than 7 million sq ft of additional floor space over the next 20+ years. But our history has taught us that creating a place where innovation can thrive takes more than buildings, it requires an exceptional environment – green spaces, good connections, and first-class amenities to attract world-leading researchers.
The campus will be developed around a network of nodes spread throughout the 700-acre site, each providing key amenities, so you are never more than a 5 minute walk away from a great coffee or place to meet your friends. Each node will be developed thoughtfully in phases to create an increasingly coherent campus in logical steps, seamlessly connected by green corridors.
Over the next five years, we plan to deliver 800,000 sq ft of new space for research and development, including incubator-style workspace. The focus will be on developing the north of the campus, adding new facilities and sports pitches which help to make the campus more vibrant and contribute more to surrounding communities.
Following completion of the first phase, the focus will move to developing the central area of the campus, delivering 2.6 million sq ft of new science space and a step change in public engagement and accessibility, including ‘The Light’ – a new museum and engagement centre with Space Dome cinema, event space and roof terrace.
These later phases are designed with flexibility at their heart – creating beautiful, sustainable spaces that can accommodate whatever cutting-edge research is happening at the campus in 2040. We can’t predict where the vanguard of science will be, but we can ensure Harwell is agile enough to meet the most ambitious demands. The campus will add more than 3.7 million sq ft of new science space.
More detail about each of these phases will be shown at our public consultation events in December.
There are many ways to find out more about Vision 2050 and to share your thoughts on the future of the campus.
Attend one of our in-person events:
Thursday 10 December
Time: 2pm – 8pm
Location: CO:LABS, Second Street, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0GD
Directions
Saturday 12 December 2026
Time: 10am – 2pm
Location: CO:LABS, Second Street, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0GD
Directions
Alternatively, please get in touch by, submitting feedback using the form below or:
Email: vision@harwellcampus.comㅤ|ㅤWrite to: Vision Team, Harwell Campus, Quad Two, Rutherford Avenue, OX11 0DF
