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New growing and propagation rooms installed for pioneering UK botanical medicine research and development specialist

CambridgeHOK has completed a second installation project for a pioneering phytobiotechnology company in the UK, tripling the capacity of its climate-controlled growing facilities.

Phytome Life Sciences is a research and development company that specialises in the application of agri-technology for the development of botanical medicines.

The company, which has a Home Office licence to grow and conduct biopharmaceutical research into plant-derived therapeutics, first turned to our team five years ago to design its initial indoor grow rooms at its research facility in Cornwall.

Over that time, Phytome Life Sciences has established a growing reputation of its own within the market, with work not simply in cultivating medicinal plants, but instead focussed on researching the best new cultivation methodologies to produce the best therapeutic compounds for the UK pharmaceutical market.

The business returned to seek the expertise of our team at CambridgeHOK, to add additional CEA cultivation and propagation rooms.

Installation completed in 10 weeks

The new installation, which included a novel and bespoke moveable two-tier racking system, specialist grow lights and a sophisticated climate control system producing tight control on humidity, temperature and airflow, was completed by our team in just 10 weeks, and has now been handed over, ready for use.

Matt Ware, Technical Sales Manager at CambridgeHOK, said: "Obviously, for any research facility, the highest standards of product, installation, and controls has to be achieved, and our team has been able to provide this and complete the installation in a short timescale for the client.

"Having installed the initial two grow rooms on site a couple of years ago, we returned to add further capacity in another two rooms, providing an extra grow room and an expanded propagation room.

"We were able to provide even further growing space by installing a two-tier growing racking system, something which in itself presented a challenge with regards to ensure temperature and humidity levels were consistent throughout. This was achieved by using a novel air supply system.

"To be asked to return to any client is obviously a seal of approval for a business, but when it is a customer which is working on such advanced research and development, in a competitive and rapidly expanding market, is a real testament to the confidence they have in the quality of facility we can provide."

Adam Parnall, Campus Director at Phytome Life Sciences, said:

“We're are delighted with the quality and efficiency of CambridgeHOK's work on this latest installation. The expanded facilities are crucial for our ongoing research into botanical medicines and therapeutic compounds.

"Over the past five years, we've fostered a strong partnership with the CambridgeHOK team, who consistently demonstrate their deep understanding of our specific requirements. Their ability to deliver such sophisticated growing environments with precise climate control is invaluable to our research objectives.

"The new two-tier racking system has significantly enhanced our cultivation capacity, allowing us to accelerate our development programs. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CambridgeHOK as we expand our research capabilities in the near future”

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