If you’ve visited the Sussex Innovation Centre in Falmer since the start of the year, you might have seen and heard some work going on around the building. It’s all part of our plan to renovate, refurbish and improve our facilities during a period where these necessary works will cause disruption for as few of our members as possible.

In 2020 we received a grant from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership to fund a series of infrastructure improvements that will make remote and blended work patterns easier to adopt during recovery from the pandemic and, more generally, improve the experience at the Centre for member companies, staff and visitors.

The master project has been happening in stages from the end of 2020 and will continue over the coming months – the work already completed or currently underway includes:

– New electric vehicle charging stations in the car park and new bike racks in the rear loading bay as part of our commitment to making sustainable transport a practical option for more of our visitors
– New air conditioning system installed across west-facing office units, which are in direct sunlight throughout the summer months
– Refurbishment and redecoration of the toilets in phase 1 of the building

As lockdown measures continue to ease and more of our residents begin to return to the office, we can expect to see a series of further improvements, including:

– Refurbishment of the large seminar room as a space for formal and informal gatherings, with state of the art AV equipment to enable seamless virtual meetings and presentations
– A new soundproofed media suite, stocked with all the necessary equipment for our members to record and edit high-spec podcasts and video on-site
– Additional new shower facilities at the rear entrance to the building for residents arriving to work by bike
– Further landscaping of the outside terrace area with additional seating and facilities for outdoor meetings

As many of these improvements suggest, we’ve responded to decreased demand for permanent office space as a result of the pandemic, and we plan to adapt more of our workspace for flexible co-working facilities. If you’d like to take a look for yourself, why not try our Sussex Stars scheme? Get a pre-paid stamp card to redeem against hotdesks or meeting and collaboration space, whether you’re a start-up looking for an occasional place to gather or a freelancer in the mood for an easy-access ‘home away from home’.