THE BUILD
A RESEARCH POWERHOUSE
The IMI will establish a world-leading hub for medical research at University Hospital Southampton. Together with the Centre for Cancer Immunology (CCI), the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (housed within the CCI), and the Somers Cancer Research Building, these research centres will share expertise, equipment and facilities, creating an exceptional environment for breakthroughs.
Researchers working at the hospital site will benefit from shared laboratory spaces, encouraging collaborations between medics, researchers and engineers. Crucially, this will make it easier for our experts to split their time between laboratory-based research and patient-facing clinics, a key factor in delivering better outcomes for people. This real-time insight will ensure patients are at the heart of everything we do. Our researchers will have unprecedented, immediate access to patients and samples within a stone’s throw of their laboratories.
The IMI will be on the doorstep of one of the nation’s most important hospitals. Every year, University Hospital Southampton provides regional healthcare services to over three million adults and children in central southern England and the Channel Islands. The hospital is consistently one of the UK’s highest recruiting trusts of patients to pioneering clinical trials which test new life-changing medicines.
Public consultation: Initial public consultation for the new Institute for Medical Innovation, primarily situated on Coxford Road opposite Princess Anne Hospital, is planned for mid-June 2026. Further consultation is planned for September, ahead of a planning submission in October. The new building and landscaped site would replace the existing Tenovus and Duthie buildings. Further information and FAQs will be available shortly via a dedicated consultation website.
Images above are artist impressions of the Institute for Medical Innovation.
How will the IMI advance the next medical breakthroughs?
Collaboration at its core – shared spaces include hot desks, meeting rooms, a café, terrace and atrium, all designed to encourage collaborative working. The co-location of different specialists will enable interdisciplinary working and bring diverse perspectives to big health challenges.
A specialist MedTech Engineering laboratory – this will include engineering-specific features, such as infrastructure and piping for lasers, allowing medics and engineers to work side by side.
Category Level 3 Suite (CL3) – to safely house and analyse the most dangerous pathogens.
One of the largest biomedical imaging units in the UK – a suite of sophisticated microscopes and imaging technologies, enabling powerful visualisation. The breadth of methodologies available in the unit – including x-ray, light and electrons – will be extremely powerful, offering researchers a range of techniques, all in one place.
Digital collaboration hub – one of the most exciting features of the IMI is that it will enable researchers to access NHS and University servers and work on data from both organisations, in a highly secure environment.
Omics core facility – the omics lab will use novel methodologies to study the building blocks of life – such as genes, proteins and molecules – to measure everything in a cell and understand disease in unprecedented detail.
FLOOR PLANS
Projected size: 4,340m2
Projected capacity: 280 people
Sustainability features: BREEAM Excellent with high environmental performance, design strategies that focus on passive energy measures, all-electric heating, biodiversity-friendly landscaping and circular economy principles such as material reuse
