The Birmingham Knowledge Quarter (BKQ)

The Birmingham Knowledge Quarter (BKQ) is a distinctive and inclusive city-centre innovation quarter. It’s a priority for advanced manufacturing, related research and development, and associated supply chains and services. The focus is on knowledge-intensive, R&D-driven real estate leveraging engineering, advanced digital technologies, and health tech research clustering.  

The Knowledge Quarter comprises of seven interconnected parcels of land, covering approximately 131 hectares. These brownfield sites, currently underused, will be completely vacant by September 2024. The tax incentive site, covering about 6.5 hectares, is an integral part of this area. It enables Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and investor support to be targeted at core commercial anchor occupiers, driving values and growth in the wider area. 

The Knowledge Quarter will deliver 615,652 square meters of developed floorspace for advanced manufacturing and auxiliary activity, creating between 20,000 to 25,000 jobs. The strategy is to develop a core innovation and R&D ecosystem based on the triple helix model, rooted in the south of the quarter, adjacent to the new HS2 station at Curzon Street. 

Occupiers will include a mix of research anchors including Aston University, Birmingham City University, and potentially the University of Birmingham. R&D and teaching facilities from these universities will be closely linked to both associated major commercial investors and tenants in the priority sector, as well as healthcare and care research institutions to drive translation and adoption. New laboratory and commercial innovation space will include the Curzon Wharf tax site, which has full planning permission and is targeted at medical/health tech and associated advanced manufacturing uses.