When the site opened it was known as the Post Office Research Station, but it was subsequently renamed BT Research Laboratories or BT Labs and later Adastral Park to reflect an expansion in the organisations and activities co-located with BT Labs at the campus.
The original laboratories (when BT was part of the Post Office) were first opened by Elizabeth II in 1975. Prior to this the Post Office Research Station was at Dollis Hill in northwest London. Martlesham Heath was chosen as the site for a research facility because the surrounding countryside was relatively flat and therefore ideal for testing the radio-based communication systems in vogue at the time.
Initially, research was carried out into postal sorting and delivery technology, and telecommunications. After the Post Office was split apart and prior to British Telecom's privatisation in the early 1980s, the research concentrated on telecommunications.
In keeping with the stellar theme of the site name, buildings on site are named after stars or constellations (an example being the Main Laboratory Block now named the Orion building). The Orion building is easily recognisable from the nearby A12 road with its 200 feet (61 m) radio tower, now named Pegasus tower, dominating the skyline.
The change to the current name occurred in the late 1990s with the aim of turning the site into a high-technology business park, no longer exclusively for the use of BT. The name was created by Stewart Davies, the CEO of the BT business (BT Exact Technologies) headquartered at the site at that time. It is derived from the motto of the Royal Air Force—per ardua ad astra ("through adversity to the stars"). The Royal Air Force were prior residents of the site, as RAF Martlesham Heath. Experimental aircraft test flights flew from the airfield and the name was meant to reflect this. In March 2001, University College London, Faculty of Engineering Sciences, chose Adastral Park to set up the first-ever postgraduate research and teaching centre on an industrial campus, which was housed there until 2009.[1] During the transformation of the business park, many of the old buildings were removed and car parks were moved to the perimeter of the site, with the centre made into open parkland with a water feature to provide a 'park' feel to the complex. The site accommodates approximately 4,000 people.[2]
Current use
Companies based at Adastral Park besides BT (BT Applied Research) include:
There is also a satellite earth station operated by Arqiva;[4] the location was chosen for the visibility of satellites on the eastern horizon. In 2018 there were 98 high-tech companies at the site.[5]
Peregrine falcons
BT worked with the Hawk and Owl Trust to set up a nesting box for a pair of peregrine falcons.[6] These produced two chicks in 2019,[7] and in 2020 a YouTube channel was set up and three chicks were produced.[8]
Adastral New Town
Over many years, BT has put forward various proposals and plans to expand activities at the business park. In June 2001, a framework for expanding the business park was created, but it was not linked to building any residential housing on the site. At the time BT forecast 3000 to 3500 additional jobs by about 2010. In 2007, BT said that they could develop the business park without the need for the income from selling land for housing.
In 2006, Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) rejected a planning application for 120 log cabins on a site next to Waldringfield Road. The rejection was on the grounds that it was too near the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty amongst other reasons, and would result in an unacceptable increase in visitor numbers to a sensitive areas. BT initially objected on the grounds that it would interfere with their radio test area, although BT subsequently withdrew their objection provided the developer created a protective earth bund, rejected by SCDC. BT subsequently lodged a planning application for 2000 houses to be built.[9] At its closest the site comes within 88 metres (289 ft) of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,[10] and there are several Site of Special Scientific Interest close by, such as Newbourne Springs.[11] In April 2018, SCDC (subsequently merged with a neighbouring council to become East Suffolk District Council) gave outline permission for the development, which is now named Brightwell Lakes.[12]
adastral, park, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Adastral Park news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Adastral Park is a science campus based on part of the old Royal Air Force Station at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk Main building Adastral Park When the site opened it was known as the Post Office Research Station but it was subsequently renamed BT Research Laboratories or BT Labs and later Adastral Park to reflect an expansion in the organisations and activities co located with BT Labs at the campus Contents 1 History 2 Current use 3 Peregrine falcons 4 Adastral New Town 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditThe original laboratories when BT was part of the Post Office were first opened by Elizabeth II in 1975 Prior to this the Post Office Research Station was at Dollis Hill in northwest London Martlesham Heath was chosen as the site for a research facility because the surrounding countryside was relatively flat and therefore ideal for testing the radio based communication systems in vogue at the time Initially research was carried out into postal sorting and delivery technology and telecommunications After the Post Office was split apart and prior to British Telecom s privatisation in the early 1980s the research concentrated on telecommunications In keeping with the stellar theme of the site name buildings on site are named after stars or constellations an example being the Main Laboratory Block now named the Orion building The Orion building is easily recognisable from the nearby A12 road with its 200 feet 61 m radio tower now named Pegasus tower dominating the skyline The change to the current name occurred in the late 1990s with the aim of turning the site into a high technology business park no longer exclusively for the use of BT The name was created by Stewart Davies the CEO of the BT business BT Exact Technologies headquartered at the site at that time It is derived from the motto of the Royal Air Force per ardua ad astra through adversity to the stars The Royal Air Force were prior residents of the site as RAF Martlesham Heath Experimental aircraft test flights flew from the airfield and the name was meant to reflect this In March 2001 University College London Faculty of Engineering Sciences chose Adastral Park to set up the first ever postgraduate research and teaching centre on an industrial campus which was housed there until 2009 1 During the transformation of the business park many of the old buildings were removed and car parks were moved to the perimeter of the site with the centre made into open parkland with a water feature to provide a park feel to the complex The site accommodates approximately 4 000 people 2 Current use EditCompanies based at Adastral Park besides BT BT Applied Research include Openreach F5 Networks Juniper Networks GENBAND Maly IT Solutions Cisco Coderus com 3 CommsUnite Fujitsu Huawei O2 plc Arqiva CIP Milner Strategic MarketingThere is also a satellite earth station operated by Arqiva 4 the location was chosen for the visibility of satellites on the eastern horizon In 2018 there were 98 high tech companies at the site 5 Peregrine falcons EditBT worked with the Hawk and Owl Trust to set up a nesting box for a pair of peregrine falcons 6 These produced two chicks in 2019 7 and in 2020 a YouTube channel was set up and three chicks were produced 8 Adastral New Town EditOver many years BT has put forward various proposals and plans to expand activities at the business park In June 2001 a framework for expanding the business park was created but it was not linked to building any residential housing on the site At the time BT forecast 3000 to 3500 additional jobs by about 2010 In 2007 BT said that they could develop the business park without the need for the income from selling land for housing In 2006 Suffolk Coastal District Council SCDC rejected a planning application for 120 log cabins on a site next to Waldringfield Road The rejection was on the grounds that it was too near the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty amongst other reasons and would result in an unacceptable increase in visitor numbers to a sensitive areas BT initially objected on the grounds that it would interfere with their radio test area although BT subsequently withdrew their objection provided the developer created a protective earth bund rejected by SCDC BT subsequently lodged a planning application for 2000 houses to be built 9 At its closest the site comes within 88 metres 289 ft of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 10 and there are several Site of Special Scientific Interest close by such as Newbourne Springs 11 In April 2018 SCDC subsequently merged with a neighbouring council to become East Suffolk District Council gave outline permission for the development which is now named Brightwell Lakes 12 See also EditBT Research Post Office Research StationReferences Edit UCL set to leave Suffolk research park 23 February 2009 BT Celebrates 40 years of innovation at Adastral Park PDF www atadastral co uk Retrieved 18 October 2016 Award Winning Mobile App amp Software Development Agency Coderus Retrieved 5 June 2021 Contact Us Archived December 17 2007 at the Wayback Machine Home BT Adastral Park atadastral co uk Retrieved 23 April 2018 Peregrine falcon chicks hatch Peregrine chicks fledge from BT water tower in Suffolk BBC News 14 July 2019 Adastral Park PerryCam YouTube YouTube Redevelopment of Adastral Park Archived from the original on 14 June 2011 Retrieved 10 July 2011 Adastral Park Redevelopment Project Greenfields under threat The Guardian 5 November 2010 Suffolk Wildlife Trust Reserves amp Visitor Centres Newbourne Springs Archived from the original on 27 March 2010 Brightwell Lakes Your story beautifully told Retrieved 27 June 2022 External links EditAdastral Park home page Connected Earth Museum on the origin of BT Laboratories Martlesham Coverage from theregister co uk on domain grab Further coverage on domain grab No to Adastral New Town Press coverage over Adastral New Town Coordinates 52 03 32 N 1 16 44 E 52 05889 N 1 27889 E 52 05889 1 27889 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Adastral Park amp oldid 1112872396, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
