UNIVERSITY PROCUREMENT
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FURTHERING EDUCATION
Cambridge University is one of the driving forces of both the City of Cambridge‘s local economy and, increasingly, its construction industry. It is a major employer in the region, as well as being one of the premier educational establishments in the world. In a two-part special, Cambridge Architecture Gazette explores the University‘s role in the expansion of the city WORDS DAVID ADAMS
Green Spaces © North West Cambridge Development
The development of major sites in and around Cambridge by the University has not, it is safe to say, gone unnoticed, either by the inhabitants of the city or within the architectural world. With the first phase of the North West Cambridge Development, Eddington accepting its first inhabitants, and the West Cambridge development firmly in progress, the scale of change that Cambridge itself is facing as the extents of the city expand north and west becomes clear. Cambridge Architecture has long been curious about the nature of procurement of University projects, and earlier this year it made contact with David Adamson, former Director of Estates for Cambridge University, to consider how the University arrived at
some of its key decisions. Given the scale of the subject, the gazette decided to run a two-part article, with the final part in the next edition. This issue focuses on some of the key decisions of the last 20 or so years, and the type of questions the University was asking itself at the outset of its current phase of expansion. The next edition will look in detail at the largest expansion in the University‘s history, looking at the way in which the University is developing its strategy, long term vision and aspirations, and the management structure underpinning it. The expansion of the University is, much like that of the city itself, a local phenomenon with national and international implications,
The expansion of the University is, much like that of the city itself, a local phenomenon with national implications and one that continues to propel Cambridge forward into the future, with all the challenges that brings to infrastructure, character, and culture. David Adamson looks back to where it all began. David Adams, Co-Editor
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