Designed to encourage collaboration between research and industry, the BREEAM Excellent rated premises has been delivered with the flexibility to be tailored to individual tenant requirements; including the provision of laboratories, meeting areas and office space.

There is also additional space for expansion on the plot surrounding the new life sciences building, one of six on Inverness Campus with Life Sciences Enterprise Area status.

Inverness architect Threesixty Architecture designed the 1,000m2 unit to allow use in its entirety by a single occupier or sub-division into up to six individual units.

The building was constructed by Morrison Construction.

Ruaraidh MacNeil, HIE’s project director for Inverness Campus, said the opening of the life sciences facility is a significant milestone in the development of the site.

He said: “Providing a modern purpose-built facility for life sciences companies marks the start of the expansion of the business side of the Campus. We can offer life science companies state-of-the-art facilities in a beautiful environment where they can grow their businesses by sharing knowledge and expertise with other like-minded companies.”

Environmental impact is a priority for HIE at Inverness Campus and the life sciences building has achieved a BREEAM excellent rating for sustainable design which includes air-source heat pumps.

Inverness Campus is designed to bring business, health research and educational organisations together to promote collaborative knowledge transfer and build on the progress the Highlands and Islands has already made in creating skilled jobs in these sectors. The Campus is expected to be one of the main drivers in the region’s economy with independent research estimating that over the next five years it has the potential to support up to 1,300 jobs on site and a further 940 jobs across the Highlands and Islands.