In a reflection by Professor Mike Lewis, SALIENT Work Package Lead, Harwell Campus emerges as a powerful example of how constraint can foster innovation. Originally farmland, then an RAF base, and later the heart of Britain’s atomic energy research, Harwell has continually adapted to shifting national priorities. Its legacy of contamination and complex infrastructure made it too costly to erase—preserving it long enough to become a thriving hub for science and technology.

Today, Harwell hosts over 200 organisations, including the Diamond Light Source, the Rosalind Franklin Institute, and the European Space Agency, forming a unique industrial commons where public infrastructure anchors private innovation.

👉 Read the full substack story on Made Ground: From constraints to commons