Plans have been approved for the new Fleming Centre at St Mary’s Hospital.
The Fleming Centre will be the headquarters of the Fleming Initiative, a joint partnership between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London. It will be the first in a planned global network of centres working to tackle the increasing, global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Due to open in 2028, the plans have been designed by Stanton Williams, who was selected in January 2025 following a bid process through 2024.
Plans for the new building in Paddington have gone through a multiple-stage consultation process, and will now be referred to the Mayor of London for sign-off.
Lord Darzi, Executive Chair of the Fleming Initiative, called the milestone a “defining moment” in the response to one of the great health threats of this century.
“Almost a hundred years ago, in a modest laboratory at St Mary's, Alexander Fleming opened the antibiotic era,” Darzi said. “Today, that era is under threat. Antimicrobial resistance already claims more than a million lives a year and risks unwinding a century of medical progress.”
“The Fleming Centre is our answer. It will bring scientists, clinicians, patients, policymakers and the public into the same rooms, asking the important questions – part discovery engine, part public square, part living laboratory. Alongside it, St Mary's will grow into a fully integrated campus where clinical care, research, life sciences and education sit side by side.
“That this Centre rises on the very ground where penicillin was discovered is not sentiment. It is intent. Where Fleming began, we begin again – this time, with the world watching."
This Centre rises on the very ground where penicillin was discovered
Professor Tim Orchard, Group Chief Executive of the North West London Acute Provider Group, which includes Imperial College Healthcare, said that this new development supports wider plans to redevelop the wider St Mary’s site. “[It will bring] new opportunities and investment to the area as part of Paddington Life Sciences.”
The St Mary's Hospital site is up for redevelopment within Wave 3 of the New Hospital Project.
What will the new Fleming Centre look like?
The six-storey building will combine world-leading scientific research facilities with welcoming spaces for public engagement, including exhibitions and events.
The Centre will operate as a living lab, bringing together researchers, clinicians, patients, the public and policymakers to accelerate new approaches to preventing, detecting and treating infections.
The project will involve repurposing and significantly extending The Bays, a terrace of nineteenth‑century warehouses along the Grand Union Canal that have been used as office spaces by the Trust. The redevelopment will maintain an important link to the area’s industrial heritage, retain historic features such as the brick shell, warehouse doors and cranes.
The project will involve repurposing and significantly extending The Bays
At ground-floor level, the retained structure will be opened up to create exhibition spaces and a café, with further exhibition areas incorporated. These spaces are designed to place science on show, helping to bridge the public directly with the research taking place within the building.
Above, new laboratory and research facilities, space for clinical trials, collaborative workspaces and convening areas will support the Fleming Initiative’s mission and strengthen the link between research and frontline NHS care.
Designed to meet NHS net zero carbon standards, the Fleming Centre will be a sustainable facility that contributes to the planned full redevelopment of the St Mary’s Hospital site. Public engagement to help shape the design of the wider campus is currently underway.
Stanton Williams, appointed following a Royal Institute of British Architects invited design competition in 2024, led the design of the building. The company’s plans have drawn on feedback from patients, local communities and staff.
Gavin Henderson, Principal Director, Stanton Williams, said: “We are delighted that The Fleming Centre has received unanimous planning approval.
“Working on this project of global significance for humanity is a unique privilege. Our radical transformation of these historic warehouses creates a suitably bold identity for the ambitious vision of this important new institution, while retaining a vital link to the community’s past.”