c h I I
GOING DUTCH Allies and Morrison at Newnham
This scheme, first illustrated in CA29 Autumn 1994 and recently completed, fits well in the Ieafy red brick world of Newnham. The London practice of Allies & Morrison are fast developing a reputation for well considered, carefully detailed building's which both respond and contribute to context. Jeremy Lander reports.
lf, like me, you missed the Vermeer exhibition at the Hague you should get your clogs on and trot down to Newnham college where Allies and Morrison have recreated a little piece of the Dutch Master's work in the twentieth century form. Hand-made brick and white woodwork enlivened by incident - someone framed by a balcony here, a passer - by
glimpsed through a passageway therethis is the 'Little Street'come to life.
This is not the first time Newnham College has been likened to a Dutch painting. Pevsner described Basil Champneys buildings as having the atmosphere and "feminine daintiness" of a Peter de Hoogh, Vermeer's rival. The college is after all the apotheosis of "Queen Anne", essentially a revival of a Dutch seventeenth century style.
All this may come as a surprise to Allies and Morrison. They have made their name as uncompromising moderniststheir heroes are Aalto, Khan, Scarpa and Asplund - and this building is certainly not pastiche. There is none of that "precedence of appearance over expression of plan and construction" for which Shane de Blacam (unfairly) criticises them in his review of the Dublin Embassy (AJ 23.11.95.). No, it is simply the result of a genuine desire to integrate buildings with their context, to establish, as Asplund did so well, an immediate sense of place.
The building provides accommodation for sixty graduate students, on five staircases each with two ground floor llats and eight rooms above, grouped around a kitchen/common room on the first lloor and laundry on the second floor. This is now standard for graduate housing but here it is achieved without fuss. Pevsner applauded Champney's abandonment of the 'wasteful' college system of staircases in favour of corridors,'a view unlikely to meet with much approval today. Here the staircase is the social unit and the kitchen its focal point. The rooms are light and airy, elegantly furnished with oak fittings, the staircases however are a little gloomy, despite splashes of colour, and it is a shame the grey metal chimneys (presumably housing extract vents) could not have been lanterns lighting the staircases.
The staircase units are simply lined up producing a long pitched roof building which connects the front and rear entrances of the college and redefines its eastern edge, a move which hab been long overdue. There is a distinction between the more public face to the new lane and the more private world of the garden onto which the kitchen balconies face, but what is so enjoyable is the permeability between the two created by the five passages.
The elevational treatment, while developing the architects favourite theme of overlapping and adjoining rectangles, is softer and less mannered than some ol their buildings. There is, however, still plenty of evi-
dence of that relentless search for ihe perfect arrangement of rectangles which exercised the mind of that other great Dutch painter, Mondrian. How appropriate then that this building should be named after Rosalind Franklin whose own restless search helped solve the great geometric conundrum of our time - the structure of DNA.
Jeremy Lander
A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT
We have given up on Newmarket Road!" - the view expressed by the Secretary of The Cambridge Preservation Society at a recent seminar on Design Control in Cambridge, seemed to reflect a more wideranging provenance. The development control process has played a substantial part in protecting and enhancing the quality of the built environment of the City. This, in so many words, is the view of the Planning Officer, and was the substance of the recent seminar; and one has to believe it" lt is only when travelling the Newmarket Road or, say, crossing Hills d railway bridge, that conviction on this point, if it L;6 not waiver ii is because it has induced its own brand of amnesia.
Newmarket Road is one of the eight 'gateway' routes leading into an international heritage city. Civic pride? Forget it, in particular, the section of the Road between the Queen Elizabeth Way roundabout and the railway bridge, which is a kind of black hole in the development control process. ln May this year the Cambridge Urban Forum set up its third open urban design workshop to focus attention on and address the issues posed by Newmarket Road. The articles in this extended issue of the CA gazette document its findings.
The concentrated attention to planning and design matters on these occasions is daunting to the general member of public, but the workshop was attended by sufficient numbers of the local residential community to form its own sub group who perservered to feed in cogent local views and information. Breaking with the pattern of previous workshops, the participants worked in five themed groups, led by facilitators dealing withSocial and Community issues; Transportation; Landscape; Urban Form; and Sustainability. As one of the invited speakers Rory Coonan ol English Partnerships observed, the title of the Forum's urban design workshop Boulevard or Backyard? begged several questions. How, he asked, do you
mediate the different lives of Cambridge? How do you put meaning into land use? How indeed. He lifted the curtain on the Government's agenda, how local authority funding is abrogated to prioritise schemes of maximum national political profile. But local insight still seems a more promising road to travel than the recommended advice of Coonan's vaunted consultants.
The Newmarket Road urban design public workshop organised by the Cambridge Urban Forum was a revelation, overturning in two days in some minds an ingrained resignation towards the inevitability of the dreary visual impressions of Newmarket Road and a crinkly tin shed future. ln its place emerged a positive vision of what this area of the City might become - if its dynamics and potentiality were recognised and exploited; if its longer term hislory and associations were evoked; if only there were positive political will and commitment towards the ever present processes of urban renewal.
lmpression by Jon Harris
OUTCASTS, PITS AND TIPS
Loggans (1690) view of Cambridge from the east shows the open fields stretching up to the Barnwell Gate beside Christ's College. Romans may first have established the road approaching from the east of Cambridge, bringing produce to the garrison from the big estates at Fen Ditton and Horningsea.
The Chapel, now close by the railway bridge, was originally part of a leper colony, which to assist with its funding was granted the right to hold a fair in the 12th Century. This developed into the famous Stourbridge Fair, of international significance and considerable scale. The street names, Oyster Row, Garlic Row, Cheddars Lane, bear witness to the trading. Fairgrounds existed on either side of the road until the end of the 19th Century.
So from an early time Newmarket Road was associated with outcasts and large scale trading. To his was added despoliation. Late Victorian maps show numerous brickyards, gas works, sewage works and refuse disposal destructors. The only benign outcome of the workings was the little lake near the football stadium excavated in the hunt for coprolites or fossilised dung, used f.or agricultural tertiliser. Most of the other pits had been filled in by rubbish by the mid 20th Century. Other industrial sites, such as the gas works had become seriously contaminated.
The railway, arriving in the 1840's divided the area from Coldhams Common. The isolated narrow line of small scale houses along the north side of the road were originally built lor the railway labourers, some ol whom worshiped in the Leper Chapel, restored at the time.
This was the main road to and from the east of Cambridge up to the opening of the Northern bypass (now A14). The amount of traffic in the early 1970's was intense when the wide dual carriageway was eventually constructed, with the loss of many 11s65. lt'c scale was only useful for a few years. Now it is un. t used, and its envisaged extent, iight out to the airpt#,' should never be required.
The filled pits could only safely be covered in concrete, becoming numerous hardstandings and showrooms for cars and caravans, and later retail warehousing.
The large sites to the North await to be developed but these carry the heavy costs of decontamination.
This is the origin of what we have inherited. Like the east end of many cities, probably paftly because it was prevalently downwind, this is the quarter that was neglected. ls it possible by some civic action to reverse centuries of disregard?
Arial photo and Watts Brickworks illustrations Courtesy of Cambridgeshire Collections
David Yandell.
Watts Brickworks and Saw Mill in 1870
Eight people contributed to the Social & Community working group, all of whom are residents of the area. Although all the issues are closely linked we concentrated on "social" aspects, the view of people who use, live and work in the area. The locality was seen as a desirable residential area because of its proximity to the city centre and the open spaces along the river, but nevertheless characterised by isolation from other neighbourhoods and amenities caused by the strong barriers which bound it. The population is too small to support its own amenities and needs good connections to facilities ," h as local shops and schools. The historical focus of 5-ireighbourhood has reversed, causing many of the present problems. The river which used to be a stinking commercial artery abandoned to equally smelly uses such as the gas and sewage works, is now seen as a desirable frontage and Newmarket Road which used to be a desirable frontage to benefit from passing trade has now become unsuitable for houses or even small shops.
Proposals
We made two proposals for improvements, one deals with the situation as it currently exists and the other takes a more fundamental look at the root causes of the current problems. Both are based on creating parallel routes to serve the multiple and conflicting functions of Newmarket Road and on layering the area from the river to the railway into nominal zones of appropriate uses in a way which permits interaction but reduces unsuitable neighbours. This is a reaction to the present situation which has a great mix of uses but very little beneficial interaction between them.
Separation and integration of uses: The zones we propose are similar to those which already exist but slightly modified to permit better separation and integra- ,^n of uses to gain from access to the other uses e.g. \ .iers or people waiting for replacement tyres could sit Mhe river and residents could buy bread from lunchbars catering lor the commercial uses.
The broad zones are: (1) residential and social amenity uses (such as the museum, social club, sitting and play areas) closest to the river, (2) mixed small scale commercial, retail, service and light industrial uses along the southern frontage of Newmarket Road where they can take advantage of the passing trade as well as serving the locality and (3) large scale commercial uses (which depend on attracting vehicles) closest to the railway, integrating the Beehive, Coral Park and northern Newmarket Road areas.
Separation and integration ol routes. Newmarket Road itself used to function on many levels; as a through route, as a retail street, as a distributor to large commercial sites, as a cycle/pedestrian route and a residential road. lts present design has made the through route so dominant that none of the other uses function satisfactorily. We proposed various grades of separation of these lunctions. The cycle/pedestrian routes could be moved onto a network of paths linking all the neighbouring areas and crossing the barriers of the river, road and railway. The residential roads are linked to unify the residential area and open up more housing sites free of through traffic. The access roads to the large commercial sites are linked to serve the Beehive, Coral Park and sites of Newmarket Road, so that they do not interrupt the through traffic. ln order to re-establish a mutually beneficial relationship between the neighbourhood and the passing trade it would be necessary to modify
the road layout to permit passing cars to stop and use the shops. At present the neighbourhood is being deprived of local shops and services because it is not big enough to support them itself and the ones on ' Newmarket Road are closing down because it is not possible for vehicles to stop outside them. We suggested a slow/stopping lane on the south side of the road, possibly combined with a public transport route (which also needs to be separated from the through traffic with f requent stopping points).
The more radical of our two proposals suggested tackling the root of the problem Which is the volume of through traffic sharing an old road which needs to serve many other purposes. We proposed re-aligning the main route from the northern bypass east of Ditton to East Road following the line of the disused railway. This has several advantages. lt releases the old road to serve as a local residential street, it combines the two maior barriers of railway and main road into one, thus blighting less area, the sites that require malor vehicle access could be concentrated along the new route, the ground levels along the railway line route permit easier bridging and of course the new route could be properly designed and landscaped without the restrictions of the significant buildings along the old road. The increase in the value of the commercial sites and the greater potential mix of uses on the land released, should help to compensate lor the land used for the new route beside the railway. The improvements in public transporVpark & ride and general traffic flow would reduce the environmental impact of the road.
We also investigated ways of exploiting the considerable changes in levels over the area to improve the views from residential developments and facilitate crossings of the river, road and railway.
David Halford.
Objectives
* Create routes and links across the barriers (particularly to St.Matthews, Coldhams Common and Chesterton).
* Maximise the potential of the Newmarket Road Frontage by re-establishing the mutually benelicial interaction between the passing trade on Newmarket Road (30,000 vehicle movements) and the people who live and work in the area.
* Maximise the river frontage for residential and amenity uses.
* Mend the rifts in the residential area caused by historical accidents.
Rory Coonan - Backyard or Boulevard? Speakers
David Yandell - The historical background.
Peter Studdert (Director of Planning, Cambridge City Council) - The current situation and possible future.
Rory Coonan (Architectural Advisor to English Partnerships) - Projects lor Urban Regeneration.
Geoff Barrett (director of Crouch Butler Architects) -The new B&Q Superstore now nearing completion on Newmarket Road.
Dr. David Crowlher (University of Cambridge).'Sustainabl e Cities" - th e meaning of this applied to Cambridge.
Pirkko Higson (Landscape Architect and lecturer) - The possibilities for landscape.
Mike Sharpe (Cambridge County Council - Chief Transport Engineer)The traffic problem.
LAND USE URBAN FORM TRANSPORT LANDSCAPE nruo DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
This section of Newmarket Road and its hinterland has seen more change in the last 40 years than most of parts of Cambridge, with more to come. The problem is that the formai of the Local Plan induces artificial separations in land use subjects, and it compartmentalises the environment inio a world of two dimensions. There is no concept of a heterogeneous urban environment. No capacity for assessing the character and quality of environmental sectors beyond individual development parcels, and hence no guiding design framework for developers, establishing principles, setting standards. The technique of post factum planning intervention in matters of design is exposed in the farcical treatment served on the Comet building and is seen in flagrante delicto in the case of the B&Q building shortly to be opened. One need is for an urban design strategy, coupled with design and planning briefs for the redevelopment of the obsolete industrial zone of the gasworks integrated with and extending the present mixed community of residences and small scale workplaces. A similar brief for ihe whole of the Coral Park trading area, including the Beehive, should have been in place 10 years ago. And the same for the redevelopment of the Mackay sites.
Low cost development does not have to iimply mediocre and tacky buildings. Even the humblest building can have character providing it is generated from sound design considerations. The Urban Design workshop identified some of the design issues and produced its own panaceas for the commercial strip:-
the issue of building stock and design typologyusing the classic techniques of good design practice employing simple forms, good proportion, visual texture - setting standards for simple vernacular shed buildings that could have a life beyond their first use (sustainability - long life/ loose fit)
bring good basic design into commercial build ings - banish folksy features and the phoney arts and crafts design mentality and let the build ings speak their own language
. closing the gaps - forming a street frontage
parking concealed from the street scene at the rear of buildings - coordinated and tree screened property parking
. redefining the forecourt - a zone for canopies, signs, setting down - letting rip with freestanding signs (including inflatable gorillas) and flaunting 'the ephemeral - using the strip to signal
Expensive structures at Milton Keynes, but the idea of neutral and graceful background buildings is a model for other retail parks impinging on urban frontages.
The signs cost more than the structure of building in the city street
Yandell
the unacceptable face
corner - getting it almost right
tisements and restrained-in design . reinforcing the planting on the central reserva tion for amenity and to signal the boundaries of the commercial strip and the communities of mixed development on the north . eliminating the dual carriageway and repos sessing the carriageway for public transport, setting down tree planting and cycle tracks At the point of study Newmarket Road undergoes transformation from route to road, to street, as it leaves the 414 and eventually finds the City centre. Any urban character associated with these terms has been subsumed by its damning appellation of 'transport corridor' in planners' jargon. And, concomitantly, with it expired any hope of qualitative urban life along its margins. The straggle of shops, offices, pubs and houses on the north side of the area under study are now so much dead urban tissue, excised from passing trade and visitors by traffic management. The ambiguous character of the road is a reflection of its transition, with increased traffic loading , to the function of primary distributor, and the conflict deriving from its engagement with the vestigial remains of the street system. The partial dualling of the road led in recent memory to the loss of tree planting. The trees that remain at the bridgehead and the magnificent plane tree now marking the crossover at Stanley Road provoke images of lo-". With the advent of the northern A45l14 ring road \ jquirement for dual carriageway has been superIEd6o, but the aura of highway intervention remains. One legacy is the oppotunity to repossess the unnecessary sections of new carriageway and to re-establish a more congenial environment.
As the Workshop exercise revealed, the south side of the road is the site of an industrial and commercial history which has undergone serial transformation; most recently dedicated to the care and romance of the motor vehicle, but now undergoing new mutations into soul-deadening warehouse retailing. What next? Middlesex Polytechnic created a School of Engineering and Design from warehouse buildings in the 1980s. Coral Park Trading Estate could end up as a campus of Higher Education yet.
The study area, it might be noticed, is prone to 'corridors'. A city wildlife corridor traverses the road linking Coldhams Common with the sequence ol meadows that join the riverbank walk on the north side of the road. The Workshop was quick to identify the desirability of making this also into a human corridor to provide continuity of green public space for ramr-'--s and loggers, cyclists and bridle way.
Arr The railway, the other great divider, is a public transport corridor, which might shortly be loined by newer and more flexible forms of guided bus transport systems.
Tree planting schemes to beautify and camouflage this urban wilderness have been dreamed-up and abandoned. All that remains is the bullying of developers to inherit piecemeal landscaping responsibility, and cosmetic fixes to the new and ever larger crinkly tln sheds, when what is first needed is a guiding plan for structural tree planting in the area, as part ol an Urban Design Strategy.
Colen Lumley
Afts and crafts brickwork and false windows in the Comet building - meaningless design intervention pandering to popularism
A landscape corridor traversing the
Green from warehouse to high tech campus retrofitting the building stock
When all else fails you can always fall back on nature!
A place for makers and breakers
ill:illll:lii
Wall syndrome - how
sion for this?
Workshop Participants
Social & Community
David Halford, Facilitator Archilecl Planner & Resident.
Virginia Burdon, Besident, CUF. Nigel Smith, Paul Arnetts, Margaret Reynolds, Architect, CU F. Geraint Hughes, Resident.
Sustainability
Jean Perraton, Facilitator Planning & Environmental Consultant, CUF.
John Preston, Conservation Off icer, Cambridge City Council.
David Yandell, Architect, CUF. Rob Homewood, Architect, CUF.
Transport
Bob Armstrong, Facilitator Transport Planner & Economist, CUF.
Clive Buerk, Project Manager & Consultant.
Ben Walsh, Railway Development Society.
Christ Knight, Engineering Technician.
Peter Pope, Environmental Consultant, CUF.
Holly Huber, Cambridge City Council P lanner.
Landscape
Pirkko Higson, Facilitator Landscape Architect.
Shannon Jeory, Architect & Resident. Nicholas Hellawell, Architect. Katrina Simon, Landscape Archjtect.
Urban Design
Viren Sahai Facilitator. Archilecl, Planner. CUF.
Matthew Thomas. Architect, CUF. Cathleen Wilson. Housing Group Development.
Sarah Street. Architect, CUF. Huin Chain. Student. Colen Lumley. Architect, CUF. Trude Cornell. Resident.
Roy Cherrington. Architect, CUF. Miranda Cornell. Resident.
David Raven. Architect, CUF.
SUSTAINABLE CITY
Aims
* to improve the quality of the environment
*to reduce the use of fossil fuels and thus reducing local air pollution and the city's contribution to global warming
* to increase opportunities for wildlife to flourish
* to improve the viability of local retail facilities and community services
Proposals
1. A significant increase in the reEident population of the area. More housing, close to the city centre and jobs, would enable more people to walk, or cycle to work. lt would cut commuting from the villages, and reduce local and global air pollution. ln the long term, we felt that Coral Park would be residential. The future demand for retail warehousing is uncertain, but such uses would be better clustered on the edge of town with easy access by road and rapid transit. This area would become high density housing, a patchwork of high and low-cost housing groups, with traditional courtyard layouts. lt would have minimal car parking, aiming to attract people who would prefer greenspace to parking space.
2. Better conditions for buses, cyclists and pedestrians. We propose bus lanes, using the outer lane of Newmarket Road, for the park-and-ride buses and guided buses from Chesterton Sidings, and cycle lanes. New cycle/footpaths would link with Coldhams Lane and over the railway line to Coldhams Common. Also new routes down to the river, west of the Museum, and under Newmarket Road, linking the paths on Coldhams Common, via the Leper Chapel, to riverside meadows and Fen Ditton. The setting of the Leper Chapel would be improved.
3. More greenspace for benefit of people and wildlife. We envisage linear green spaces, with grass and trees rather.than shrubs or flower beds, enabling easy maintenance using little energy and no herbicides. These would improve the urban scene, improve local air quality, and link into existing wildlife corridors. There would be new planting along the new routes, large deciduous trees on urban edges of the commons; willows - grown from stakes of pollarded local willows - along water courses; and a community planting and maintenance scheme in the Riverside area.
4. Develop the area's potential for renewable energy production. An 'energy park' on part of the gas works site - developed as a joint local authority, private sector aRd community venture - would include: an energylrom-waste plant, using local waste and feeding into the national grid (reducing pressure'on landfill sites and transport to them); solar collectors on top of the gasometers and demonstration biomass (fuel crops) plots
around them; a Renewable Energy lnterpretation C'entre - an educational and tourist attraction - next to the existing technology museum. A wind turbine on Elizabeth Way roundabout, would generate energy and symbolise Cambridge's aim to become a more sustainable city.
5. lmprove the viability of local services and facilities. We hope that the increase in local population will improve the viability of local shops and other community facilities for the residents of Riverside. The riveredge environment would be made more attractive, benefiting both residents and people walking and cycling from the city centre to the commons beyond. A landing stage opposite the new energy centre would enable visitors to reach the museum and interpretation centre by boat, contributing - in a small way - to the city's aim to divert tourist pressures from central Cambridge
Jean Perraton.
URBAN DESIGN
The Political Agenda
Some middle class intellectuals might question the need for any intervention to Newmarket Road. All cities have backyards, arguably an essential part of their character, and Newmarket Road with its drive-in superstores and car lots is simply an expression of modern life and people's expectation: Better perhaps that these functions are concentrated in particular areas which are primarily car orientated. This area has been a centre lor large-scale trading for generations.
Cities have a natural way of evolving to meet changing needs without intervention and public intervention can result in planning blight. Until the 1960's the Kite area, for example, was a happy mixture of small-scale commercial, cultural and residential uses, but with the inevitable element of decay and need for new investment. Various reports and proposals by the City and its professional consultants led to large-scale uncertainty. This gradually undermined much of the area's economic vitality and viability leading to substantial clearance and replacement and loss of historic character and continuity.
ually, the lack of policy for an area and its vital 'llh=(tructure and functions can result in economic and physical decline simply through competing private interests. Urban design, or public intervention, is concerned with the resolution of these problems and conflicts to improve the quality of life for all.
The City deserves development briefs for all its parts. These should be area specific, some modest, others involving major intervention to resolve structural problems and reverse major urban decay and decline. There has to be the political will to do this (the City are apparently divided on the need for development briefs) and a broad understanding and acceptance of what the problems are which need addressing. Political dogma needs to make way for a more professional approach. There are fears that development briefs might be too prescriptive and deterministic and actually inhibit the essential partnership needed between public and private interests. This issue is to do with the quality of the brief. A good brief is not a static document but a framework in evolution.
Planning applicants can only produce proposals for thair own sites. The City, with its consultants, must set \ ,re broad policy framework for each area to meet a rEl(e of economic, social and physical objectives. The planning depadment have a professional duty to do this. lt is not enough, or necessarily appropriate, to simply react to planning applications and tinker with these in a piecemeal fashion. The complexity of the issues involved, the need for wide consultation, and the possible limits imposed by legislation, are not an excuse for inaction.
This particular stretch of Newmarket Road illustrates many of the worst effects of the lack of public intervention. The Urban Design Group took a. pragmatic approach on the basis that major intervention is likely
to increase planning blight and result in major investment and large-scale borrowing in the future.
The 4-lane road, a legacy of the 1960's, which cuts through the area now provides the space for an effective public transport system (given projected park and ride proposals) and the opportunity to separate fast moving and local traffic. The road, as a journey, needs greater incident, which can be achieved by the introduction of taller buildings, more open space and bolder signage, etc. Tracts of decayed or unused land could form the basis for a sequence of positive spaces enclosed by trees and buildings and provide the means for the gradual renewal of decayed frontages (dead tissue) giving more separation from traffic noise and links with mixed uses behind.
The effect of the road as a physical barrier can be mitigated by the introduction of regular crossing points. The six pubs and eating houses which are consistently 250i300 metres apart along this stretch of road provide one focus for those who live or work in the area. Crossings at these points linking housing and other uses, the trading sheds, open space, kiosks, bus stops, traffic lights etc would be a simple piece of infrastructure which would start to bring cohesion to the area and make things work. There is also the need for a programme of structural tree planting. Trees are relatively cheap and can help civilise roads and spaces, by providing enclosure, definition, screening, shade, etc. The 4-lane road should have continuous tree planting in the central reservation to create a softening effect. This could separate faster moving 2-way lraffic on the south side from local traffic on the northern side with its more frequent stops serving small businesses and housing areas etc.
All this together with the workshop ideas for Coral Park outlined earlier could form the basis for a simple policy framework. Coherent policies for the siting and form of buildings, for tree planting and open space, for signs and advertising, for the zoning of the roadway and the provision of crossings and for secondary circulation, would go a long way to improving this particular environment. A partnership of public and private interests foster the development of the other. Well designed buildings and spaces make for a more efficient and economical use of land and a sound investment. They make the environment more humane and safe and encourage private responsibility for its care.
David Raven.
Workshop Sponsors
Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Association of Architects, Eastern Region Energy Group, Cambridge Forum lor the Construction lndustry Eternit UK Ltd, Greene King plc, Fielden & Mawson, Heffers, The Copy Cen|Ie (reprographics), Kalll<w ik (typ e s etting), Jafiolds (stationary).
The Gog Magog hills to the south east of Cambridge, site of the Roman fortification at Wandlebury and traversed by the Roman road from Colchester, still aflords travellers on the A1307 the first prospect of the City, as they top its giddying heights. The modern road separates Wandlebury from the Magog Down on its southwest flank. Unnoticed by the speeding motorist, the downland itself is a vantage point lor a commanding panoramic outlook over the open landscape of southwest Cambridgeshire and its village settlements nestling in the trees, and to counties beyond. The traditional habitat of the chalk downland, formed by centuries of sheep grazing, was lost in recent years with the advent of intensive arable farming. New economic and agricultural conditions have opened an opportunity for restoration and for gaining public access to this quiet gem of local heritage. Michael Bond, secretary and treasurer of the Magog Trust, explains how the initiative ol the local community was conjoined with the backing of various authorities and the landowner to put the proiect into effect. The proiect is a model of its kind, and bearing iri mind the rapidly changing economic profile of agricultural land use and encouragement from the EU for the valuing of the environment, it has a potency beyond its own obiectives. ln a following article, a self-generated scheme, which lormed part of a recent presentation at the Architecture Gallery (Open Cambridge lnitiative) is offered by its progenitors architects Barber, Casanovas and Ruffles for an even broader exploitation of the potential of green space in the City environs. The Gogs are the take-off point for this proposal and Downland shows the way.
The idea of restoration of Magog Down arose when the farmland on the Down came on the market in 1989. Members of the local community set up a Trust and organised a fund raising campaign. With grant aid lrom South Cambridgeshire District Council and the
sale of notional shares (Gogs) and an interest free loan, they were able to purchase the 163 acres. ln these efforts the Trust was strongly supported by local business and the media.
But why do it? What is so special about Downland? The chalk downlands of England are the product of close grazing of turf, giving it a character which is unlike anything else to walk on and it provides a habitat for for a unique fauna and flora. This habitat had been lost from Cambridgeshire as grazing land was put under the plough in the drive for Britain to become self-sufficient in staple cereals. At the same time there were enormous improvements in productivity. The. factors led inevitably to the production of surplilV and a call for Government to do something about it. ln a strange compromise the principle of "set-aside" was introduced whereby farmers were paid not to grow crops which were in surplus. This opened a window of opportunity where the set-aside rules could provide a basis for long-term changes in land use, and the Magog Trust has benefited from this.
Work started before the Trust bought the land. The Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust evaluated the potential of the site, to ensure that restoration was a feasible proposition. The Trust undertook to restore the land as a chalk downland with wild flowers and trees appropriate to the locality. ln this aim the Trust had the aid of the Cambridgeshire County Council's Rural Group. The land carried a crop in the first year which was not fertilised, to allow the soil to return to a more natural level of fertility. Successful applications were made to MAFF for set-aside, to the Forestry Commission for Farm Woodland Scheme grant, and to the Countryside Commission for various management scheme grants linked to restoration, access and future management. By Spring 1991 things had begun to happen. Five wood-lands were planted, one of them entirely by volunteers and a second mainly by young people. Areas were sown with grass and flower seed mixes. Within the succeeding year these turned poppy red then white. Credit was innocently accepted for this amazing product of largely dormant seed. On BoxingDay
a successful mass tree planting took place involving many people, from young children to grandparents. The two following years were fairly dry but the trees took well.
The project was supported by Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Countryside Commission. A big area of land is still being farmed by the original owner, to bring in money from all grant schemes that are going and the farmer continues to advise the Trust on its farming matte'" The Trust itself comprises local people motivated by r\ ,n of restored downland open to the public for quiet ei]6yment. Each member brings professional skills, forestry, finance, administration, publicity, helping to motivate a wider circle of voluntary helpers. Who do they do it for? Everyone, is the trite but true answer. There is a generation growing up which has become almost entirely detached from the reality of rural life, even if they live in villages. Part of the object is to show what a chalk downland is and to encourage an interest in and respect for the countryside. Children can appreciate that trees take a long time to grow and will still be around in the far future. They show a concern for wildlife but have fewer oppodunities to see it
It is necessary to have open access to realise the Trust's objectives. To make it easy, a large car park, picnic area, and seats at strategic points have been installed. ln the main people have responded by taking care of the land and using the facilities provided. There have to be compromises. Dogs and ground-nesting birds don't mix. People are requested to keep dogs on a lead on the Down. An off-lead dog walk has recently been installed and to limit the fertility of the land owners are ' rcted to remove dog litter. \J,iaintenance and improvement are a continuing concern. Trees will need weeding for four years. Chemicals are used sparingly and only when essential, to protect the wide variety of insects and nesting birds. For the first two years the grass was cut and removed to reduce soil fertility. Sheep grazing is being reintroduced gradually. lmprovements of access for disabled is planned. So far the operation has been entirely voluntary. The Trust organises promotional events and it welcomes new members. The restoration of the downland has not been cheap. t600,000 has been raised and spent in six years and the results are beginning to show. Expenditure will reduce but there is a need for investment in long term administration, management, and in interpretation. Much has been achieved and there is much still to do.
Michael Bond.
GOG AND MAGOG PARK
a proiect for the millennium
Over the next two decades the population of the world will increase from five to eight billion and by the 21C some 70-80% of those will be gathered into urban conurbations. Cambridge cannot be excluded from this picture and there is a growing concern at the political expediencies of short term solutions to long term problems posed by this issue. Strategic policies are
planting event
required both in and around Cambridge to enable the future to unfold in a legible and coherent manner. One which is essential to the health and wellbeing of the community is the establishment of further public open space readily accessible to those living in the City and adloining villages. There exist a series of University owned and public open spaces radiating from the centre and generally following the River Cam. The spaces outside the City, as at Granchester Meadows and the more recent Milton County Park and Magog Downs, are small scale and unrelated to each other.
There is some need to recognise the pressures for more public open space in and around Cambridge and to seek to broaden its horizons. Like it or not, pressure will continue to rise for development land on the city boundaries and into the established green belt. The recent motorway links constructed around Cambridge already lock us into a future pattern and we should embrace it. The University of Cambridge will continue to expand, particularly in the west. The necklace of villages will continue to grow with new townships, or villages created. Transportation networks including raillrapid transit links will ultimately follow, even if well into the 21C.
Before any further ad-hoc erosion of major adjoining spaces, it is proposed that an extensive urban/ecological park of some 20 square kilometres be created to reaflirm Cambridge as one of the most progressive and admired cities of the World. The example set by landscapists of the 17C and 1BC, Repton, Capability Brown, Gibbs, Vanbrugh, establish the great English landscape tradition as a model and direct the spirit towards a more public form of parkland appropriate to the burgeoning 21C
A prime objective in setting up the park would be to enable city and village folk alike to greater enjoyment of the countryside. Much of the existing agricultural land use will remain and could be varied in its utilisation. lnevitably the park will need to acquire strips and major parcels of land either by purchase, or lease arrangements.
This vision for a park signals a departure from existing planning policies which are rooted in the 1949 Planning Act and in particular the need to rethink the issues affecting green belt policy. lt would allow scope for greater consideration of carefree access, the design of peripheral schemes, housing overlooking green belt using the park as a soft boundary with views into open countryside.
The financing of such a venture would be a major issue, but we live in an age of broadening fiscal opportunity and partnerships of public and private agencies.
The implementation of such a strategic project would be open to prioritisation and phasing. This could include establishing a car-free network of footpaths, cycleways, bridleways which extend the existing routes to link village to village, and village to Cambridge. The present pathway from Sheeps Green in the centre of Cambridge, passing the Leys School, via Vicars Brook to Long Road, over Clay Farm past Addenbrookes Hospital to Granhams Road, could be extended to join the the Gog Magog Hills, linking the villages of Trumpington, Cherry Hinton, Fulbourn,
Shelford, Stapleford and Babraham. The space for this network would come_from land alongside hedgerows, dykes, treed areas, or near road margins, to retain as much agricultural land as possible.
The creation of new wood' land areas in the rolling landscape, for example, forming a strip of land on the south side of the Cambridge/Barbraham Road would assist in structuring the landscape. This strip could vary between 20 - 150m and provide footpath/cycleway access f rom the City to Wandlebury. Subsequent extension of the park could be made by subsuming underused tracts, old quarries and Nine Wells and would provide a continuous tree planted parkland development reaching to the A11. Eventually it might be possible to continue to link with the via Devana Roman road, providing 23 kilomelres of pathway away from vehicular traffic.
The Gog Magog Park would form an enhanced educational and recreational resource opening Cambridge to the surrounding countryside, breathing new life into urban lifestyles. lt would constitute a major Iinear park that would set the pattern lor the reinforcement and development of the other radial green fingers that bind the City to its wider landscape.
Dog Walk
Neil Ruffles.
PERSIAN TRIBAL
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ARCHITECTURE IN SCHOOLS
A symposium organised by the Eastern Region Education Committee to discuss the role of architecture in Primary and Secondary Schools 5.30pm on Tuesday 1 October 1996. Venue to be announced. lf you wish to take part or would like further information contact Jerry Lander 01223 366355 or Tim Snow 01206 822266.
EREG SEMINARS
26. September. Along the Cutting Edge of Green Deslg, Comet Hotel, Hatfield, 10"00am. 6. November. Energy Conservation in Historic Buildings Madingley Hall 10.00am.
Details: Government Office for Eastern Region. 01234 796194.
CAA/RIBA DIARY
CAA monthly committee meetings, 6.30pm Architecture Centre- All welcome. Details Viren Sahai 263599. 14. September. Eastern Region Members Evening 7.00pm. Drinks at Architecture Centre. 8.00pm Corpus Christi College. tickets t12.50 from Regional Office.
26.October. CPD Seminar'Designing for Acoustic Privacy'lain Clarke. Amp Acouslics, St.Giles Hall, Pound Hill
5.00-6.30pm. Fleservations Lrz Gilfeather. 355033, Details Roger France 358236.
28.November. CPD Semrnar on flat roof design. John Potter. Cam Suiie, Garden House. 1 1.45am-2.30pn
Details & reservations 01 91 28 -
NEWMARKET ROAD
Exhibition of Cambridge Urban Forum's urban design workshop project. Central Library Lim Yard 27 - 31 August and at the Architecture Gallery in February 1997 HOBSONS PLACE combined public exhibition of work of Cambridge Urban Forum with county and city proposals Ior Trumpington Road/Lensf ield Road junction. Royal Cambridge Hotel. 3 October 2-9pm
ARCHITECTURE GALLERY
31 Aug - 18 Sept
Reconslruction of the Frauenkirche, Dresden 20 Sept - 19 Oct
PETER FLUCI(Abstracts & Mobiles lnstallations of wind mobile and sound and kinetic art, in conjunction with Commissions East and includin. temporary public art installation v City of Cambridge. 14 Sept
CAMBRIDGE BARNWELL HOUSE BARNWELL DRIVE
CAMBRIDGE CBs 8UU TELEPHONE (02231 414033 FAX (02231 413452
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of imagcs ol)to Phoro OD dlscs by inage lil.raries, thc dlgitisarion of photos for use in desktop pul.lishedclocurncntslirrlithoprintingandothercolourourpurdcviccs,irnd ISDN:01221 421611 theproductionofpresentationmarerialsonroPhotoCDfordisplayonaTV Enail: PhotoClD@I)AR.co.rrk via a |hoto CL) player or a CD-RorrXA clrive on htrp://rvu'w'colourpages colr :1 COmpUtCL ln the home using a Photo CD pLaycr in cinjrrnction rvith your TV, you and your farnily PtlOtO G?_. can vrew Tamrv prcurres. ,_-N Milton, Cambridgc CB,t 6A2
Telephorrc: All).3 42A444 Fax:01221 420781
CAMBRIDGE DAY OF ARCHITECTURE Talmour Judge lnstitute ol Management Studies, Cambridge. 1-30Nov
HOUSING IN THE EASTERN REGION Exhibition of housing designed by architects of the Eastern Region.
Letters and contributions to Cam bridge Arch itecture ate welcomed. Copy deadline for Autumn lssue,21 October 1996
lssN 1381 3375
Editorial Board: David Raven lco- editors Colen Lumley I Anne Cooper John Preston David Yandell
Cambridge Architecture c/o Trumpington Mews Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LS Tel 353115 / 843931 Fax 576488 I 844426