ARC’s campuses receive ‘Workspace of the Year’ title at the 2025 Hustle Awards
ARC – Advanced Research Clusters, has been awarded the Workspace of the Year title at the 2025 Hustle Awards, recognising its pioneering approach to designing inclusive, empowering environments for the UK’s leading scientists, researchers, and innovators.
With sites across Oxfordshire, Uxbridge and West London, the award celebrates ARC’s commitment to creating intentionally designed campuses that support over 300 cutting-edge science and tech companies and thriving start-up community.
Judges praised the strong focus on inclusivity and the commitment to reimagining how science and real estate intersect to build a better future. The campus’ strategic location, thoughtful design, and positive feedback from members underscore value and impact. Recognised as a much-needed resource, ARC exemplifies how innovation hubs can foster collaboration and growth while prioritising accessibility and community needs.
The win follows a ground-breaking research project led by ARC in partnership with global design firm HOK and the University of the West of Scotland. The study challenged traditional biotech workspace design, revealing that conventional lab environments often stifle the very innovation they’re meant to support.
In response, ARC is embedding its research-driven design across its campuses, from retreat and reset zones within labs to biophilic features that bring nature into the workspace. These inclusive environments are proven to enhance wellbeing, unlock creative thinking, and drive productivity.
This is complemented by ARC’s tailored support programme for start-ups, including incubator and accelerator initiatives, cluster manager sector specific guidance, and curated events that build meaningful connections.
Jenny Gardner, ARC’s Development Director, said: “At ARC, we believe that the environments we create have the power to unlock breakthrough thinking. Too often, workspace design in science has prioritised sterile aesthetics over human experience. We’re proud to be changing the narrative, building spaces that enable all minds to thrive.”
ARC’s campuses offer flexible leases, science-ready workspaces, coworking, cleanrooms, office space and R&D labs, all set within energising, green environments. Its latest addition, Refinery at its West London Campus in Hammersmith, is home to Leap: Powered by Imperial Incubator, a novel coworking lab offering affordable bench space for early-stage scientists.
Refinery also hosts Motherlabs, London’s first science accelerator run entirely by a commercial organisation. Designed for the rapid pace of start-up funding cycles, Motherlabs provides fully fitted CL2 labs, flexible leases, and all-inclusive rents, removing traditional barriers to scale. Together, Leap and Motherlabs offer a powerful launchpad for innovators to grow from concept to commercialisation, all under one roof.
The Hustle Awards, hosted by Startups Magazine, honour the startups, founders, and enablers reshaping industries with creativity, resilience, and purpose. Judges this year praised ARC’s bold, inclusive approach as a blueprint for the future of science and innovation spaces.
