The Fleming Centre's journey

Fleming Centre – phase one consultation complete

Earlier this summer, we held the first phase of public consultation on our early concept designs for the Fleming Centre.

Over 200 people attended our public exhibitions or webinar, and 82 completed surveys. We’re grateful to everyone who took part and shared their views. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

• 100 per cent of respondents supported the delivery of the Fleming Centre
• 90 per cent supported the proposed sustainability features
• 71 per cent supported retaining the Bays building’s original architecture.

Participants asked for more detail on local employment and learning opportunities, improvements to public spaces and walking routes, enhancements to the canal basin, and how the Centre will link with St Mary’s Hospital.

You can read the full phase one feedback report.

Our second phase of consultation will take place in autumn 2025, when we will share updated designs ahead of submitting a planning application in December.

The site and local context

The Bays building – the proposed site of the Fleming Centre – was originally built as a canal-side storage warehouse around 1850. It was incorporated into St Mary’s Hospital in 1983 as office space.

The Bays has been chosen as the site for the new Fleming Centre because:

• It allows construction with minimal impact to clinical services at St Mary’s Hospital
• It is an easily accessible location next to Paddington Station (with excellent connections across the UK and abroad)
• It will be directly situated in the Paddington Basin, alongside other partners in the Paddington Life Sciences cluster
• The building is in considerable disrepair and would require significant refurbishment to continue as a viable office space.

We are committed to managing construction carefully and we will keep the community up to date with the development through regular bulletins.

Monitors tasked with strictly tracking levels of dust, noise and vibration will be placed across the site, and marshalls will manage construction traffic, helping to keep residents and staff safe.

The ideal location in Paddington

St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington has been at the forefront of healthcare innovation since it opened in 1845. It is where Sir Alexander Fleming was working as a doctor and researcher when he discovered penicillin in 1928.

St Mary’s – along with the other hospitals that make up Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust – continues to strive for better health and care today. With academic partner Imperial College London, it has particular expertise in infectious diseases. In 2023, the Trust became the first UK healthcare organisation to be accredited by the Global Antimicrobial Stewardship Accreditation Scheme.

Collaboration with industry

Centred around St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington Life Sciences is a growing cluster of health research and data businesses partnering with local communities and stakeholders to improve health, healthcare and economic growth for all.

The Fleming Initiative is proud to have the support of a wide range of commercial and philanthropic partners.

St Mary’s redevelopment

While funding for the Fleming Centre is separate to NHS funding for St Mary’s Hospital, each will benefit the work of the other. The creation of the Centre is planned as a precursor to the redevelopment of the whole St Mary’s site as part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme. This will deliver a new 800-bed hospital as well as further expansion of Paddington Life Sciences.