Blue Mountains Campus welcomes new biotech and safety-tech leaders

Two innovative science and technology businesses – Chitogel Limited and Dräger – have joined Blue Mountains Campus, reinforcing its role as the Wellington region’s most resilient hub for innovation, operations, and research. Their arrival adds momentum to a campus community that is already home to KiwiRail, MBIE, and a roster of high-growth enterprises.

Homegrown biotech company Chitogel Limited has leased 335 square metres in Stage 1 of the campus for its global production plant and laboratory. Best known for its clinically proven hydrogel that improves healing after endoscopic sinus surgery, Chitogel manufactures in New Zealand and distributes nationally as well as to the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

“Relocating to Blue Mountains Campus is critical to our future. With rapidly growing US sales and a second product launching within 18 months – targeting a market four times the size of our current base – we must expand production significantly. The campus provides a secure, resilient facility that safeguards our global supply chain while allowing us to retain our highly skilled team. Just as importantly, it offers the capacity to scale further as demand increases,” says Edward Lamb, CEO of Chitogel.

International medical and safety technology company Dräger has also chosen the campus as the new base for its Wellington-based safety equipment calibration team, leasing 115 square metres in Stage 1 of the campus.

The campus’ secure, resilient, high-quality space ticked all the boxes for the business, explained AJ Moreland, Managing Director of Draeger New Zealand Ltd.

“The safe, green setting, excellent facilities, and quality of the building create exactly the kind of great workspace we have been searching for with our Wellington team. We’re thrilled to be joining a vibrant and growing community of tech and business leaders,” says AJ Moreland.

Part of a growing Upper Hutt science and technology hub

Positioned at the heart of Upper Hutt’s rapidly expanding science and technology corridor, Blue Mountains Campus now sits alongside a wave of major national research initiatives. This includes the Te Papa Biodiversity Research Centre, a $155 million, state-of-the-art facility in nearby Trentham, which is being built to preserve New Zealand’s extensive and globally significant natural history collections.

The campus also neighbours MPI’s National Biocontainment Laboratory at Wallaceville, a high-containment diagnostic and biosecurity facility critical to safeguarding New Zealand’s agriculture and trade.

Together with Blue Mountains Campus these projects highlight Upper Hutt’s emergence as a strategic base for future-focused science, technology, and innovation operators, and make the campus a prime address for organisations seeking a resilient, collaborative, and scientifically vibrant environment.

 An expanding innovation community

Chitogel and Dräger join a strong roster of established businesses which have chosen the modern, resilient campus as their regional hub. Long-term anchor tenants KiwiRail and MBIE are joined by cyber-innovation experts Silicon Systems, Wellington’s regional Panasonic team, Biome Trust, Collective Real Estate, and Nourishing Minds. Stage 1 is also home to KiwiRail’s national train control centre, which oversees 90% of New Zealand’s rail traffic.

“We’re delighted to welcome Chitogel and Dräger to Blue Mountains Campus,” says David McGuinness, Director of Willis Bond, the campus developer. “We always envisioned the campus becoming an inspiring location for science, technology, and future-focused businesses, and it’s exciting to see that vision coming to life. We look forward to growing this community with other like-minded, innovative companies.”

Final leasing opportunities

With strong demand driving Stage 1 leasing, a small number of premium spaces remain available. Opportunities include 395 square metres of north-facing space on Level 3 of the Buddle Building, as well as ready-to-occupy office suites ideal for sole traders and smaller teams on Level 2.

The campus offers a range of high-quality amenities including meeting rooms, end-of-trip facilities with secure bike storage, showers, and changing rooms. All of this is set within park-like grounds featuring an excellent onsite café.

Located at 68 Ward Street, Upper Hutt, on one of Wellington’s most resilient sites, Blue Mountains Campus benefits from engineered resilience, a green setting, onsite amenity and parking facilities, and close bus and train links – all key factors for its major tenants. With Stage 1 complete, the wider campus also offers scope for several new buildings to accommodate office, lab, or high-tech workspaces through to light manufacturing.

“We welcome enquiries from businesses of all sizes looking for quality space,” says McGuinness. “Whether you need a ready-to-lease office or a custom-built facility, we can deliver spaces tailored to a wide range of requirements.”