Withers has advised the Royal Free Charity, the charitable foundation for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, on an agreement with contractor Willmott Dixon which commences the development of the Pears Building, a cutting-edge institute for clinical research on immunity and transplantation.
The Pears Building will house the UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, which will be one of only five centres in the world to bring together leading scientists, academic clinicians and clinical trial specialists to develop revolutionary new treatments and therapies for patients. The building is scheduled for completion in 2020 and has been made possible by the charity's largest ever fundraising initiative.
Julie Teal, head of Withers' construction team, comments: "This is a hugely significant project for the Royal Free, and for the local community and all of those who will be served by the Pears Building's treatment facilities. The Royal Free Charity has done an outstanding job of gathering the funds for the construction project, and we've been delighted to support them on legal issues all the way through."
The Withers team was led by Jeremy Wakeham, working with partners James Martell, Julie Teal and Andrew Chesser.
Withers represents clients on major construction projects across the UK, Asia and US, including the redevelopment of 27 Poultry, leading to the launch of The Ned hotel by Soho House and Sydell Group. The firm also represents numerous NHS charities, such as Guy's & St Thomas' Charity, University College Hospitals Charity and Oxford Hospitals Charity, and has been at the forefront of negotiating the policy changes which have allowed NHS Charities to become independent of the Department of Health