GKN Aerospace’s new global technology centre, located adjacent to the Village Hotel on the Horizon 38 business park, has been handed over to the company by joint site developers St Francis Group and iSec.
The 110,000ft2 bespoke facility, including 40,000ft2 of office accommodation, has been pre-let to GKN with funding provided by BP Pension Fund.
Gareth Williams, development director at St Francis Group, said:
“The global technology centre will enable GKN Aerospace to create a world leading facility for research particularly in the areas of wing configuration and construction, meaning intellectual property, skills and knowledge is retained in the UK.”
Jane Leedham, estates director at GKN Aerospace, said:
“For such a high-profile project with a continually evolving brief, it was essential that we found a development partner with a delivery team that was both flexible and extremely capable. In return for a long-term commitment from GKN Aerospace, we were able to secure a bespoke research and development facility to rival all others.”
The global technology centre will focus on additive manufacturing, advanced composites, assembly and industry 4.0 processes to enable the high-rate production of aircraft structures.
The facility will serve as a base for GKN’s technology partnership in the Airbus ‘Wing of Tomorrow’ technology programme.
Further developments in the pipeline on the Horizon 38 site include a Volvo car dealership, for which planning permission was granted in January.
Work to create a new access and slip road into the site off the A38 is planned to start soon.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2020 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal magazine (on page 34). The magazine is delivered FREE, nine times a year, to ALL 8,700 homes in Bradley Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
