Henry Boot has announced that its property investment and development arm, HBD, has been appointed by Imperial War Museums (IWM) and Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge, as development partner for Duxford AvTech.

The 25-acre site, located eight miles south of Cambridge within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, will be transformed into a 435,000 sq ft aviation technology campus with a gross development value of £162 million. The scheme aims to bring academia, industry and government together to drive the development of low- and zero-carbon aircraft technology at IWM Duxford.

Plans for the new campus include high sustainability standards, with targets of BREEAM Excellent and EPC A+ ratings. Once complete, the project is expected to deliver 1,200 new jobs and contribute an estimated £64 million in additional gross value added to the Cambridgeshire economy.

Detailed plans will now be prepared ahead of a planning application, which is expected to be submitted before the end of the year.

The Duxford AvTech scheme adds to HBD’s growing portfolio of large-scale innovation projects. Earlier this year, the developer secured approval for the first phase of the £1 billion Golden Valley scheme in Cheltenham, which will deliver around 1 million sq ft of commercial space, including the 160,000 sq ft National Cyber Innovation Centre, alongside 576 new homes.

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