Oxford North innovation district has been named Commercial Development of the Year for the South East of England in the CoStar Impact Awards, handed out by a panel of independent judges, as the firm completes speculative development of phase 1a,
The amenity-conscious scheme was designed to offer potential occupiers “the choice of product and specification together with supporting amenities”. These included the Red Hall which has a 100-seater auditorium, co-working spaces and a café run by a local operator.
Other elements include fully fitted lab and write-up space at 2 Fallaize starting from 1,000 square feet which is serviced by shared laboratory services as well as the two acre Fallaize Park and Fallaize Square. These are aimed at “providing the opportunity for pop-up markets, food vendors, sports and a cultural events programme all year-round”.
The district is being delivered by Oxford North Ventures, a joint venture between Thomas White Oxford, the development company of St John's College; Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a global investor; and Stanhope a developer and asset manager.
About the project: The scheme has already achieved top building certifications including BREEAM Excellent, with the first phase reaching practical completion in July 2025 for the shell and core plus Cat A offices and lab enabled buildings. The Red Hall house ground floor amenity fit-out, including the cafe, workspace, and townhall space, completed in December 2025.
What the judges said: Hannah McNamara, co-founder at P-Three said: “I selected Oxford North because it operates at a different scale of ambition. This isn’t a single building; it’s a new innovation district that materially expands Oxford’s commercial capacity and strengthens its position as a global science and technology hub. It introduces meaningful new workspace, supports high-value job creation and brings long-term economic weight to the submarket rather than incremental growth. What stands out is the integration. The scheme blends labs, offices, homes, amenities and public realm in a way that feels genuinely future-facing.
“It’s designed around sustainability, mobility and collaboration, not as bolt-ons, but as fundamentals. In a constrained city like Oxford, that level of coordinated planning and design sets a new benchmark for how commercial development should be delivered. It has also required persistence. Delivering a project of this complexity, in terms of planning, infrastructure, funding and phasing is not straightforward, particularly in a sensitive and land-constrained market. Oxford North shows long-term belief, patient capital and strategic clarity.”
Eamonn D'Arcy, professor of international real estate, University of Reading said: “Greatest potential to foster significant positive knowledge spill over effects in the local economy thus delivering long-term economic impact.”
Jonathan Mannings, founding director, Rare Consulting (UK), added: “Despite its quirky architectural style which jars against the beauty of the majority of Oxford City buildings, the scale and variety of the accommodation Oxford North delivers, has quickly established it as a new and vibrant commercial quarter of the City which will undoubtedly intime succeed in attracting a range of high profile occupiers keen to benefit from its connectivity via the A34/M40 links as well as its national rail connectivity via the recently opened Parkway station and Oxford's new rail terminal currently under construction. Future phases of the development will surely assist in lessening the impact of the 'beating heart' elevations of the 'Red Hall' and will hopefully soften its overall impact on the surrounding countryside and dreaming spires of the City centre.”
They made it happen: Bernard Taylor, chairman and William Donger, CEO at Thomas White Oxford; Jenny Hammarlund, executive managing director and global head of real estate at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; David Camp, chief executive at Stanhope; Jonathan Kendall, partner, urban design at Fletcher Priest Architects, John Redfern, head of London business space at Savills.
