Before lockdown earlier this year we had put plans in place to maximise the space at the 3M BIC and provide more labs and offices in response to an increase in demand for rooms at the centre.
Renovation work started in August 2020. The Enterprise Hub moved from the first floor to the second floor of the building, providing a large open space for our expansion. This work is now completed as five new offices and two/three laboratories have been created to provide additional space for businesses.
The deadline to rehouse, reconfigure and refurbish was seven weeks. AHR (Architects) & Lodestone Projects were commissioned by 3M BIC and the University of Huddersfield to undertake the work. It has been a tight turnaround but the professionalism of the group and dedication to detail has shone through.
Two new apprentices Aiden and Nathan joined the Lodestone team and contributed really well to the decoration and fit-out stages of the project. We also pride ourselves on using local companies to deliver the work, as you can see from the summary below of each supplier involved in the project and their locality to the 3M BIC. The extensive use of hand sanitiser – over 10 litres within 4 weeks – also illustrated how well the workers were complying with Covid safety rules.
| Organisation | Role | Distance from 3M |
| Lodestone | Main Contractor / Joinery | 16 Miles |
| HCIP | Ceilings & Partitions | 8 Miles |
| Crowther & Shaw | Heating & Ventilation | 1.5 Miles |
| Castles | Electrical | 5 Miles |
| Nicholson | Flooring | 13 Miles |
| MJG | Decorations | 12 Miles |
| Fresco | Blinds | 17 Miles |
Our aim is to allow new occupants to thrive and grow and become part of the 3M BIC community, whether they are aspiring start-ups, sole traders with innovative ideas or, more recently, companies seeking a Covid-secure space to accommodate their staff.
All our office and lab leases include business rates, energy and utilities, ultra-fast high-speed fibre broadband (up to 300 mbps as standard), telephony (up to £25 p/mth), reception services, office cleaning and kitchen facilities.
Adjustments have also been made to some areas of the building to make our in-house technology more accessible to tenants and companies. The ground floor has been re-configured to accommodate a dedicated space for the industrial Nikon Metrology grade X-CT machine so it can be kept dust-free and separate for essential work. The XCT machine is capable of seeing inside various structures made of metals, composites and even investigating bones. It was no mean feat to move the X-CT due to it weighing in at 4.2 tonnes – a heavy metal lead lined box!
For more information about our new available space at the 3M BIC, click here.
