New Century Cities
Case Studies - Northern Ireland Science Park
Location: Belfast, Northern
Ireland
Size: 24 acres (10
hectares)
Dates of Planning and Development: 1999
to the present
Developers: NISP Foundation with
CB Richard Ellis Gunne as real estate advisors
Link: http://www.nisp.co.uk
Vision: "Encouraging and supporting the start-up, incubation and development of innovation-driven, high-growth, knowledge-based businesses. Creating formal and operational links with local universities, higher education institutes, and research organizations."1
The Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) was first conceived under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which initiated and designated funding for a science park in Northern Ireland. The Agreement aimed to create equality, partnership, and respect within Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between Ireland and Britain.
The not-for-profit NISP Foundation was formed in 1999 by the University of Ulster, Queen's University of Belfast, and members of the business community. The Foundation has taken the initial role of real estate developer, with CB Richard Ellis Gunne serving as real estate advisors. Private developers are expected to play a more active role as investors and partners in planned re-use projects. Most of NISP's initial funding is provided by several UK government economic initiatives, with the intention that the science park will become self-sustaining. Profits from the early stages are rolled back into the project. In addition, financing is also provided by the International Fund for Northern Ireland, which supports projects that facilitate interaction between Catholics and Protestants.
Northern Ireland Science Park is located on Queen's Island in Belfast. Twelve buildings, including an Innovation Center for small tech firms and start-ups, the Queen's University Institute for Electronics, Communications and Information Technologies, and space for larger companies and light manufacturing occupy a former shipyard site on the waterfront. Microsoft, the biotechnology company XenoSense, and Sugarcube Ltd, a firm specializing in marketing via mobile phone short messaging systems, are among NISP's new tenants.
Queen's Island is perceived as neutral ground for the formerly divided social communities in Belfast. Its redevelopment includes an ice rink, pavilion area with cinema, and an interactive science museum. Future projects will include the adaptive reuse of several shipyard structures, including the four-story White Star Line Building. Another proposal calls for the creation of an entertainment complex on the old dock structures.
NISP will have a physical as well as a cyber component. Research will be conducted both on- and off-site, with universities and technology companies as partners. Much of that research is intended to benefit NISP directly. Planned projects include:
- a study of sustainable building materials
- the design of an electronic facilities management system which can be piggybacked onto existing telecom services
As the main technology infrastructure provider, Hewlett Packard is using NISP for internal testing of its products. NISP itself has partnered with Bytel, an Irish internet hosting company, to support a pan-Irish broadband network. NISP's partnership-based research approach brings together small tech start-ups, larger IT firms, and local universities.
Northern Ireland Science Park has developed several strategies to attract technology start-ups and to promote research. One is the Innovation Center's leasing structure, which is short-term and bundled with the most current telecommunications services. Participation by local companies in the technology systems' design has been encouraged: HP and Cisco partnered to hold a workshop with NISP to gather preferences and ideas to aid in their design of the information infrastructure, which supports wired and wireless broadband and IP telephones.
