Reports

First-stage Report of the Council on the alteration and redevelopment of the Hutchison Building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus site

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval in principle for the alteration and redevelopment of the Hutchison Building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus as set out below.

2. The Hutchison Building opened in 2001 to provide accommodation for a new Centre for Cancer Research, with emphasis on translational research, drawing on the existing MRC and University research groups working in Cambridge. It was constructed through substantial funding contributions from both the MRC (which relinquished its half-share interest in the building to the University in 2013) and the philanthropist Li Ka-shing, through his company Hutchison Whampoa, now part of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. The building was correspondingly named the MRC/Hutchison Building according to Li Ka-shing’s wishes and subsequently simply the Hutchison Building.

3. The Hutchison Building is now struggling to keep pace with current scientific and clinical needs. It was designed in two distinct operational halves and is therefore inflexible and inefficient in its use of space. Refurbishment will allow the building to be reconfigured to provide the UK with the first National Institute for early cancer research. This will further establish Cambridge as a world-leader in this important field, in line with the University’s major scientific focus as part of the CRUK Major Centre at Cambridge.

4. The Hutchison Building1 sits on the Island site on the Biomedical Campus close to the main Hills Road entrance roundabout, which is the location of several key research and teaching buildings for the Clinical School. The works are principally internal, comprising of updating the wet lab facilities; densifying use of the building (from 34 sqm/person to 19 sqm/person) by integrating separate spaces and repurposing redundant facilities; changing people flow internally and externally to improve health and safety; and enclosing an undercroft to make a collaboration space and improved goods-in flow. In addition the works to the building, which is currently one of the University’s most profligate carbon emitters per square metre, will eliminate the use of gas. This step, together with improved energy efficiency measures, is estimated to save 320 tCO2e/year and reduce building running costs. The external appearance of the building will be essentially unchanged save for increased cycle parking and a building name to be visible from Hills Road. The project will refurbish 3,657m2 (Net Assignable Area) of space. Occupants of the building will decant into the nearby Clifford Allbutt Building laboratory block for the duration of the works, as part of a planned series of moves on the campus.

5. The budget for the project is £23.6m at RIBA stage 2. Approximately 50% of the current estimated costs of this project will be met by a donation of £11m from the HS Chau Foundation and the University will recognise the benefaction by naming the Early Cancer Institute, which is situated in the Hutchison Building, as the Li Ka Shing Early Cancer Institute. The HS Chau Foundation was founded by Solina Chau, who has a close business partnership with Li Ka-shing and is responsible for managing his private investments. The remainder of the costs is to be funded with contributions of £12m from the University’s Investment Fund and funds from the Department of Oncology. The naming was approved by the Committee on Benefactions and External and Legal Affairs (CBELA) on 16 January 2024.

6. An Outline Business Case for the project was approved by the Planning and Resources Committee in February 2024. A Full Case will be prepared and a Second-stage Report will be published in due course to seek approval for implementation of the project.

7. The Council recommends:

I.That approval in principle be given for the works outlined in this Report.

II.That the Director of Estates be authorised to apply for detailed planning approval in due course.

23 February 2024

Report of the Council to revise the length of co‑opted membership of the Finance Committee

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. This Report proposes that the period of appointment for members of the Finance Committee in class (f) (co‑opted members) should be not more than three years at a time, provided that no such member shall serve for a total period of more than eight years consecutively. The current wording allows co‑opted members to serve until 31 December of the year in which they are co‑opted or of the year next following, as the Committee determines at the time of their co-optation.

2. The Committee has been successful in securing the engagement of co‑opted members of the Finance Committee with valuable expertise in areas ranging from pensions to investment. Most of these individuals are external members, who give their time voluntarily to support the University’s endeavours.

3. The Council supports the Committee’s recommendation to revise the length of co‑opted appointments. This change would enable the Committee to set the expectations of those appointed in this class about the normal length of service as a co-opted member. It would also allow the Committee to acknowledge to co‑opted members their value to the Committee, hopefully securing the service of such members for longer as a result.

4. The Council recommends that the third sentence of Section 2 of Special Ordinance A (iv) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2023, p. 70) be amended to read as follows:

Co-opted members shall be appointed by the Committee for not more than three years at a time, provided that no such member shall serve for a total period of more than eight years consecutively.

23 February 2024