Base One, a 55,000 square foot science and technology hub, has opened in North Acton, London. The facility was developed by Sciopolis in partnership with Imperial College London and is intended to address a long-standing gap in the UK's deep-tech sector: the lack of affordable space for startups once they move beyond research and development into early-stage manufacturing.

The site, formerly known as 1 Portal Way, underwent an 11-month retrofit before opening. It now contains 24 Class 2 containment laboratories and 29 flexible office spaces, built for companies working in biotech, cleantech and materials science. These spaces are ready for occupation, removing a common barrier for young companies that need specialist infrastructure but cannot commit to lengthy fit-out periods or high upfront costs.

London's Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth attended the launch and spoke about the site's expected contribution to job creation and industrial investment in the area. The hub has been framed by its developers as a practical response to a problem many UK scientific ventures encounter: strong research output that struggles to translate into domestic manufacturing capacity, often pushing companies to look overseas once they need to scale production.

Base One sits within Imperial's Old Oak Innovation Cluster, part of the university's wider West Tech London initiative, and is positioned next to Grapht Works. This proximity allows companies to move between prototyping and early commercial production without relocating, a factor that several tenants have said influenced their decision to base operations there.

Three companies have signed on as founding tenants. Nanomox, a spinout from Imperial, produces high-transparency zinc oxide using a low-energy chemical process, with applications across cosmetics, rubber and electronics manufacturing. P.Happi, a consumer health company focused on microbiome treatments for intimate health, already has products listed in retailers nationwide. Ki 13 is developing hardware that converts biomass into green hydrogen and biogenic CO2, targeting sustainable aviation fuel and industrial fuel markets.

Representatives from the tenant companies pointed to the value of being embedded within a research-active cluster while running early production. One founder noted that having laboratory and light manufacturing space in the same postcode as ongoing academic collaborators removed a logistical burden that had previously slowed progress. This kind of proximity is uncommon in London, where lab space and manufacturing capacity are often located in separate parts of the city or country entirely.

The location also benefits from its position near Park Royal, London's largest industrial estate, which employs more than 40,000 people. Base One's developers have pointed to this as a further reason for locating the hub in North Acton, since it places new tenants close to an established base of industrial suppliers and skilled labour.

Transport links are expected to improve significantly with the completion of the Old Oak Common interchange, which will connect HS2, the Elizabeth Line and Great Western Railway services. Once operational, this will shorten journey times between North Acton and other research hubs, including Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and the West Midlands. Imperial has described this connectivity as central to its ambition of linking London-based research with manufacturing clusters elsewhere in the country.

The opening of Base One reflects a broader pattern of universities and private developers working together to fill gaps in the UK's industrial property market for science-based businesses. Whether the model proves replicable elsewhere will depend on tenant retention and whether the facility succeeds in helping companies scale manufacturing without needing to relocate abroad, a question that will only be answered over the coming years as the current tenants progress through production.

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