Cambridge Architecture CA79

79 Cambridge Architecture

Winter/Spring 2020

Design resilience

Taking the right path

Exploring the first Greater Cambridge Local Plan

Climate change: the big picture

Offering context and advice for the challenges we face

79

Contents

28

20

Contents 4-5 News

24-27 Taking the right path

7-11 The big picture

28-30 Opportunity for change

New chair at the CAA; call for Great Park; Hill donates homes; architect shortlisted; and events

Patrick Osborne and Tom Foggin offer context for the climate change tests we face

12-15 Housing the future

How structure and form could help to ensure lowcarbon footprints and highly efficient housing

Hana Loftus outlines work on the Local Plan, while Emma Davies looks at designing for resilience

Architect Meredith Bowles sets out his vision for the upcoming Local Plan

31 Finding relief

How R&D tax relief could play a part in the design of more sustainable buildings

16-17 Squaring the circle

33-35 Looking forwards

18-19 Net gains

37-39 Sounds sustainable

Should low-energy measures trump character? We look at climate change v conservation

Ecologist Will O’Connor explores the importance of protecting and enhancing natural habitats

The new Cavendish Laboratories building has sustainability at the top of its agenda

41 Standard issue

22-23 Simply the best

42-43 Work in progress

We showcase the winners of the Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2019

Cambridge Architecture is a review produced by the Cambridge Association of Architects, the local branch of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The views in this magazine are those of individual contributors (named and unnamed), and not of the Association.

ISSN 1361-3375 Any comments or for a copy of the magazine, contact editors@cambridgearchitects.org EDITORS David Adams, Tom Foggin, Susie Lober ADVERTISEMENT SALES Marie Luise CritchleyWaring (advertising@cambridgearchitects.org) Published by CPL

Mole architects explain the tools to help you work towards achieving net-zero carbon

20-21 Food for thought

Cambridge's first community farm aims to bring people together to grow and share delicious food

Cambridge Architecture

Did you contribute to the Future Homes Standard consultation?

A round-up of the projects we’re working on in and around the city

www.cpl.co.uk Cover photo © Richard Fraser 'Slate Work South', by Ackroyd & Harvey, at the Whale Hall, Museum of Zoology, David Attenborough Building, University of Cambridge.

This work, made of Welsh slate, takes inspiration from a black walnut tree in the Botanic Garden, acknowledging the history of the New Museums Site as the original home of the garden, and the archetypal ‘tree of life’ used in science, philosophy and art for centuries. The wall includes habitat spaces for bees, bats, insects and spiders.

The CAA thanks the following sponsors AC Architects Cambridge Ltd BB&C Architects Limited BCR Infinity Architects Caroe Architecture Ltd Colen Lumley RIBA Cowper Griffith Architects DaltonMuscat Architects LLP Dr James P McQuillan, RIBA EIKON Architecture and Design

Emma Adams Architect George Davidson Architect Graham Handley Architects Haysom Ward Miller M Reynolds RIBA Mart Barrass Architect Ltd Mole Architects Mrs P Phillipson Neale Associates NP Architects

Peter Rawlings Architects Ltd PJ Lawlor R H Partnership Architects Ltd Richard Goy Architect Robert Hatt Simon Blackburn RIBA Studio 24 Architects

CA79 was made possible by kind donations from the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry and Blumer Lehman, and Local Initiative Funding from RIBA East

Cambridge Architecture 3

News and events

News New Chair at the CAA The Cambridge Association of Architects is pleased to announce that, following the AGM in February, there is a new Chair: Rachael Branton, of Cowper Griffith Architects.

Branton takes over from David Adams, of Sheppard Robson Architects, who is stepping down after five years. He said: ‘Chairing the CAA has been a hugely enjoyable and rewarding experience, as has working with

Welcome Welcome to CA79!

In these extraordinary first few months of 2020, you could be forgiven for struggling to remember the positive aspects of our industries, but these are exciting times.

Attitudes to climate change and the environment are evolving; as is our profession as we work more flexibly in this challenging period.

We decided to focus this edition of Cambridge Architecture on that very topic, and asked several of the leading voices in the region to give us their thoughts on the activities and developments.

In this issue, Alexander Reeve explores how laboratories have changed their attitude to energy consumption by looking at the incredible development of the new Cavendish Laboratories building for the University of Cambridge; and Nicola Carniato, Director of AKT II, looks at the sustainable construction systems available for housing. Mole Architects generously supply two articles for us: Meredith Bowles expands on the speech he gave at The Big Debate; and Alice Hamlin and Louise McGarrigle consider the future of sustainability and how it can be applied in practice; and we take our regular look at projects around the region.

The Covid-19 outbreak may have postponed our Launch Event, but we would welcome your feedback via twitter @RIBACambridge or email editors@cambridgearchitects.org

The editors

4 Cambridge Architecture

incredibly talented and dedicated volunteers.

I look forward to seeing where Rachael will take the CAA, with energy and enthusiasm.’

Branton said: ‘I’m looking forward to getting stuck in – there’s a whole range of ideas and issues that affect architects in Cambridge, from the new Local Plan consultation right through to the global climate crisis, and it is exciting to see what the CAA can do.’

Current CAA Committee positions Chair: Rachael Branton (Cowper Griffith Architects LLP) Secretary: Quratulain Hafeez (Freelance) Treasurer: Kelly O’Doherty (BCR Infinity Architects) Communications: Mark Richards (studio24 Architects) Data champion: Tom Foggin (RH Partnership Architects) Outreach: Looking for a volunteer!

Events coordinator: Looking for a volunteer!

Fundraising: Marie-Luise Critchley-Waring

Architect calls for new Cambridge Great Park Neil Ruffles, one of the founders of BCR Infinity Architects (formerly Barber Casanovas Ruffles Architects), has called for the creation of a ‘regional park’. This would be to ensure Cambridge keeps significant green space in and around it, and prevents the gradual loss of green space that has taken place over the past 25 years.

Ruffles said he strongly believes that Cambridge should protect and enhance the public green space available to it. The park idea, developed with the enthusiastic support of BCR, would mean placing additional emphasis on biodiversity mitigation, and the connectivity of a Great Park throughout the city.

News and events

Events Important notice

Hill donates new houses for the homeless Hill Residential has set up the Hill Group Foundation 200, that will work with other local charities, housing associations and local authorities, to create 200 bespoke 24sqm homes for the homeless.

Chief Executive Andy Hill said: ‘We will build 200 modular homes for homeless people over the next five years to give them a chance in life.

Homelessness is a growing crisis that I feel very passionately about.

‘After celebrating our 20th year of building

homes at Hill, I want to give something back and create real opportunities for people who are living on the streets, to help turn their lives around.’

All 200 bespoke-designed homes will be completed and inhabited within five years, with the first sites anticipated this year. The properties will have a minimum 60-year life expectancy and be built to an exceptional standard using offsite modern methods of construction. They will be arranged in small groups, with no more than eight on one site and no higher than two storeys.

Mole architect shortlisted for MJ Long Prize Congratulations to Alice Hamlin, of Cambridge-based Mole Architects, for being shortlisted for the inaugural MJ Long Prize.

Reflecting her high standard of work on the award-winning Marmalade Lane development, Hamlin made the shortlist of only four architects from across the UK..

Richard Waite and Emily Booth, of The Architects' Journal, said the prize is open to UK-based female architects. It is judged on an overall body of work, with an emphasis on a project completed within the past 18 months, that showcases ‘real excellence in modern practice’ and ‘demonstrates a clear understanding of context and care for the communities they serve’.

Correction In CA78 an image from the Swavesey Village Design Guide was credited to Emily Greeves Architects when it should have been credited to Emily Greeves Architects and Freddie Phillipson Architect.

All events correct at time of going to print, please keep up to date with government guidance on the Covid-19 outbreak before attending. The RIBA has useful information and links at bit.ly/ca79riba

A site visit with a difference Site visit; Tuesday 5 May 2020, 3pm Cambridge Academy of Science and Technology, Biomedical Campus, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0SZ. For more information and to book tickets, see: www.cfci.org.uk

Cambridge Union Project (CFCI members only) Site visit; Monday 4 May 2020, 4pm Round Church Street, Cambridge.

For more information and to book tickets, see: www.cfci.org.uk

Studio Sunday, Kettle’s Yard Sunday 5 April 2020, noon-4pm.

No booking required. For more information, see: www.kettlesyard.co.uk/events

Place Making, What’s the Future of Place?

Thursday 11 June 2020, 2-4.30pm.

Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ. For more information and to book a ticket, see: www.architecture.com/whats-on/

Rugby match to try again in 2021 The annual charity rugby match between two teams of industry professionals has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Every year, contractors take on consultants at the Cambridge Rugby Club. A CvC committee statement said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of the players and attendees is the most important aspect, and we felt holding the match on 7 May was not appropriate. The sponsors for the CvC have confirmed their ongoing support and we would like to thank them all for their continued partnership with the CvC. Our chosen charity for 2020, LandAid, will remain the charity for 2021.’ Visit www.cvcrugby.co.uk for more information.

Cambridge Architecture 5

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The big picture: climate change

The big picture As we are challenged to act urgently to combat the most damaging effects of climate change, Patrick Osborne, member of the RIBA Sustainable Futures expert advisory group and Associate and Sustainability Lead at RH Partnership Architects, offers context for the tests we face WORDS PATRICK OSBORNE

the UK’s total greenhouse gases, so it represents a significant sector to address to achieve our targets.

The declaration commits practices to seek to address the climate and biodiversity crises through a series of actions including advocacy, knowledge sharing, greater collaboration and adopting design principles. At the time of writing, more than 890 practices have signed the declaration.

The full list, and details of the principles the declaration promotes, can be found at http://www.architectsdeclare.com

RIBA 2030 Challenge

The RIBA recognised the urgency of the action required to tackle the climate issue, and at a council meeting in June, the then President, Ben Derbyshire, said: 'The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our planet and our profession. But to have a significant impact we need to do more than make symbolic statements – we need to turn warm words into impactful actions.'

Following the recommendations of the Ethics and Sustainable Development Commission report,

© London Energy Transformation Initiative

We are at a defining moment in our history – the next decade will have a great impact on future generations. Our actions now will decide whether we can limit the global temperature increase to avoid catastrophic droughts, storms, wildfires, loss of biodiversity, and sea-level rises.

There is an overwhelming body of scientific evidence that shows not only is the climate changing from pre-industrial levels, but that it is as a result of greenhouse gases arising from human activity. We reached a global temperature increase of 1°C in 2017, and so far, our efforts in reducing global carbon emissions have been unsuccessful.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that a global temperature increase of 2°C would lead to a greater risk from natural disasters, but is also seen as a tipping point at which further warming could occur.

The impacts of the current levels of warming have not been felt evenly across the planet, but at above 2°C, for instance, we could see severe heatwaves, like that of last summer become the norm.

Keeping the increase to 1.5°C is seen as the target to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals define a future towards environmental sustainability, to achieve a low-carbon and more equitable world by 2030. As built environment professionals, we can act on a number of these goals.

Declarations in abundance

UK adviser organisation the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has stated that achieving net-zero carbon by 2050 is not only achievable but is within the same cost margin as previously estimated for achieving an 80 per cent reduction – around one to two per cent of the UK’s GDP. Following this, Cambridge City Council declared a climate emergency last February, and, to date, 65 per cent of all district, county, unitary and metropolitan councils have also made commitments. The full list can be found at https://www.climateemergency.uk/ In June last year, a group of architects made a climate and biodiversity declaration highlighting the impact the design of buildings has on the environment. Buildings account for about a third of

Five core aspects of design and construction to address the climate challenge, as identified in the LETI ‘One Page’ guide to Net Zero Operational Carbon

Cambridge Architecture 7

The big picture: climate change

published in 2018, the RIBA has developed the Climate Challenge 2030. This sets out a pathway to achieving net-zero carbon buildings within this decade. Taking the relevant Sustainable Development Goals as a starting point, this is distilled into the following: ● Reduce

operational energy demand by at least 75 per cent ● Reduce

embodied carbon by at least 50-70 per cent ● Reduce

potable water use by at least 40 per cent ● Achieve

health and wellbeing targets.

Demolition only when necessary The starting point for all projects should be to question whether demolition is necessary.

Construction is responsible for almost a third of the landfill we create each year, with 13 per cent of construction products sent directly to landfill without ever being used. Transitioning to a circular economy will mean seriously considering the lifetime of a building, including the 30 million buildings that already exist.

Whole-life carbon The materials we specify contribute to our carbon emissions now, in their extraction, production,

“There is an overwhelming body of scientific evidence that shows not only the climate changing from pre-industrial levels, but that it is as a result of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity” and transportation to a construction site. This embodied carbon can contribute between 20-50 per cent of a building’s lifetime emissions, so we need to consider the whole life-cycle of a construction project to get a true picture of its impact.

It will be challenging to meet net-zero carbon emissions on site in dense urban areas, so the UK Green Building Council’s net-zero framework allows offsite renewables or certified woodland planting as offsetting schemes to achieve the overall zero target.

Operational energy A fabric-first standard is encouraged, coupled with a low-carbon heat source. Designing with form, fabric, and landscape in mind should be prioritised, to optimise lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation strategies. New connections to the mains gas could be ruled out in new buildings by 2025, which offers potential cost-savings in groundworks as well.

Water use Cambridgeshire is in an area of serious water stress, which, with climate change, is likely to worsen. The Cambridge Local Plan already stipulates new homes achieve a water efficiency of 110 litres/person/day, which is the same as the RIBA 2020 requirement. By 2025, we should reduce this to less than 95l/p/d, and then to less than 75l/p/d by 2030. Non-domestic buildings have a similar reduction over the next decade.

© RIBA

Air quality and health The challenge also lists best practice for building user health, including indoor air quality, daylight, and minimising overheating risks. Post-occupancy evaluation is the best way of quantifying user comfort, although this has traditionally been difficult for architects to be involved with.

Barriers have included: additional costs; intrusion; procurement route; or lack of interest from the building owner or occupier. The forthcoming publication, Plan For Use, will set out a route map for a simplified version of the more complex Soft Landings framework.

By setting an interim target in 2025, it allows a meaningful reduction, and to recognise that several practices are already achieving 2030 targets. The RIBA Awards criteria is aligning with the 2030 Climate Challenge, so in the next few years it will be a requirement to record and give as much information on actual building performance, with the detail linked to the size of the project (domestic buildings will need to provide less information than a complex university building, for example).

For more detail, the RIBA Sustainable Outcomes guide provides further explanation of the requirements of the 2030 challenge, as well as suggested reading and research to achieve best practice. The quantification of whole-life carbon, for instance, is defined within the RICS Professional Statement Whole Life Carbon Assessment, with the RIBA’s supporting document Embodied and Whole Life Carbon Assessment for Architects. The London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) has also produced a guide to embodied carbon, showcasing some worked examples and tools used to estimate constructionrelated emissions.

Target performance metrics for domestic and non-domestic projects, and best practice health metrics, identified in the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge

8 Cambridge Architecture

Local groups

There are several existing and emerging groups in the Cambridge area that are taking on the task of

Š Ricky Jones (TBC)

The big picture: climate change

Š RIBA

The RIBA National Award-winning Cork House, by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne and Oliver Wilton, using low-embodied carbon materials

The required improvements in building performance to address the climate crisis by 2030 set a trajectory beyond the government-mandated target of 2050, which could result in global temperatures rising to unsustainable levels

Cambridge Architecture 9

© Tim Crocker

The big picture: climate change

The RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Goldsmith Street in Norwich, by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley, built to the Passivhaus standard, is close to meeting the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge for reducing operational energy transitioning to a low-carbon industry. RIBA East has set up its own Sustainability Group to assist local practices in understanding their own impact, and how best to reduce carbon in design and construction. The CAA kickstarted 2020 with two well-received CPDs on embodied carbon, with more to follow to cover the themes of the 2030 Challenge.

The Green Register, which organises training for construction professionals, has arranged events in Cambridge, most recently on sustainable retrofit, with more to follow. The Association of Environment Conscious Building (AECB) Cambridgeshire group is now in its second year of regular meetings, where local practitioners and self-builders can share their experiences and questions. Carbon Neutral Cambridge is advocating a rapid transformation to a carbonneutral region. It has partnered with the CFCI to

10 Cambridge Architecture

deliver the Climate Emergency Conference in March. The eco-homes events across Cambridge have been hugely successful for more than a decade, with more than 300 visitors to the tours of low-energy retrofits and new buildings last year alone. More tours are scheduled for September.

We need to act now

We have less than a decade left to radically decarbonise, to keep the global temperature increase to less than 2°C. However, across the world, governments, organisations, and people are acting and embedding the targets within policy and law.

Vancouver plans to transition to zeroemissions buildings in all new construction by 2030, by setting limits on energy consumption coupled with planning relaxations to encourage developers. Brussels has revitalised its ageing

building stock by mandating the Passivhaus Standard for major renovations and new buildings, after an incentive of €100 per m2 enabled the viability of building to the standard. And in the EU, the Near Zero Energy Buildings Directive (NZEB) requires all new buildings to meet stringent energy efficiency targets by the end of this year.

Actions we can take today include: ● Question

whether demolition is required ● Understand

embodied carbon ● Understand

the performance gap ● Consider

construction waste and how to reduce this.

Our industry has an important part to play in the solutions, but it requires an upskilling for all involved in the built environment. The most important step to take is the first one, in which educating ourselves is key.

The big picture: climate change

Regional context RIBA East Chair Tom Foggin explains what the RIBA is doing locally to support the construction industry tackle the climate challenge WORDS TOM FOGGIN

With climate change high on the agenda for all professionals, the RIBA East Regional Council held a workshop at our meeting in January 2020. We discussed what the RIBA could, or should, be doing in the region to help members tackle the important issues of climate change and biodiversity. This was incredibly constructive, highlighting key areas where it is clear the RIBA is already providing support, such as the RIBA Sustainable Outcomes Guide, but also where there is a need for more local level support for architects, clients and other design professionals.

One key issue was the importance of crossindustry work. Ensuring that architects, engineers, contractors and clients are not working in isolation is a challenge that affects everybody in the construction industry and has consequences for everyone in society.

There are two strands to the challenge we face: how do we tackle climate change, and why do we need to?

How?

The RIBA, and other organisations, have been producing updated information to support design

professionals tackle the climate emergency, including the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge and supporting Sustainable Outcomes Guide, and other groups such as LETI and AECB have been publishing resources offering technical information on how to improve building performance, reduce operational energy and use low-carbon materials.

This information is only useful, however, if you know it exists. We are planning to provide further signposting and information resources to help designers, clients and other professionals get a grasp of what information is out there, including CPD and online resources.

of supporting local members to engage with stakeholders such as local authorities.

The best way to illustrate ideas is through built examples, so we plan to identify projects in the region that demonstrate best practice sustainable design, use of low-carbon materials and reduced operational energy, so that local architects can visit projects or use these as exemplars for clients.

The RIBA is also preparing case-study information about projects across the UK, which will support this information signposting and provide examples from further afield that may still be relevant.

Why?

What next?

If the architecture profession is to advocate for better standards, members in the region need supporting material to support them.

We also need to lobby other industry members, to raise awareness of climate change, and advise clients about opportunities for sustainable design solutions so that they can make informed decisions about their projects.

A key challenge will be promoting sustainable design to third parties and we will explore ways

The Regional Council workshop identified a series of actions that will be explored further by our RIBA East Sustainability Group in the coming months, with the intention of supporting members to equip themselves with knowledge and information to tackle the climate crisis we face.

This is only a starting point, however, and I would welcome suggestions from anyone in the East Region who has ideas for activities, information required, or other ways to engage with this issue.

Cambridge Architecture 11

Sustainable housing

Marmalade Lane, Cambridge

Š David Butler

Housing the future

Changing the housing model to ensure low-carbon footprints and highly efficient buildings is one of the greatest challenges facing the construction industry. Nicola Carniato, Director at AKT II's Cambridge office, looks at the possibilities of structure and form WORDS: NICOLA CARNIATO

12 Cambridge Architecture

Sustainable housing

T

Student accommodation in CLT

he construction sector has reached a pivotal moment in its history in the past 12 months. Many measures have been implemented to ensure it is working towards creating a more sustainable future.

With the government, academic institutions and professional bodies taking action to tackle the climate emergency, all parties involved in the building-design process have had to rethink their approach in order to achieve net-zero carbon in construction projects by 2050.

Poised to take the lead in the low-carbon economy of the future is Cambridge – as the city council was one of the first to declare a climate emergency.

To tackle the climate emergency efficiently, all new buildings will need to be net-zero carbon by 2030, and all existing buildings by 2050. For this, both operational emissions – carbon produced from the day-to-day running of buildings – and embodied carbon – from the production transportation and installation of building materials – need to be reduced significantly.

Major strides in the power sector have led to operational emissions being halved between 2012 and 2017, and they are now comparable with those of embodied carbon. With further improvements in the decarbonisation of the electricity grid, they will continue to diminish.

Project teams are now taking urgent action to tackle upfront carbon, designing with the whole life of the building in mind.

Carbon assessments are to be carried out at key RIBA stages through to practical completion to help optimise reductions.

The following hierarchy of actions are required to limit embodied carbon: ● Prevention: the project team reviews the opportunities to retain the existing structure and fabric ● Optimisation: reduction and optimisation of the volume of new material ● Adaptation and re-use: planning for future scenarios, through easy maintenance, repair and replacement, and demolition or reuse. ● Carbon offset: offsetting residual carbon emissions.

In engineering, the design of foundations, basements and superstructures' frames presents a significant challenge because the volume and required material produces a considerable amount of

© David Butler

Carbon limit

“To tackle the climate emergency efficiently, all new buildings will need to be net-zero carbon by 2030, and all existing buildings by 2050”

embodied carbon. Choice of materials becomes a big factor in the design of buildings and alternative materials could lead the way.

Timber option

Timber, a highly sustainable material, is a good option for low to medium-rise residential buildings. The perception of timber in construction has been negatively affected following the Grenfell Tower fire, alongside the consequent restriction on the use of combustible materials for buildings higher than 18m. But solutions,

Cambridge Architecture 13

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Sustainable housing

© House by Urban Splash

Artist's impression of Inholm by Urban Splash, part of the Northstowe development

such as encapsulations of the timber structure with tested fire-resistant material, are often acceptable and efficient.

In addition, timber lends itself to offsite manufacture – which increases material efficiency and reduces construction waste, key factors in the lifecycle assessment. Faster site installation also helps to reduce carbon emissions.

While offsite construction is more expensive than traditional construction and has a limited supply chain, it is a viable solution for the future to meet netzero targets.

In taller residential structures, there is a number of timber hybrid structures on

“The amount of real innovation and performance to date, in a city famed for just such a resource, is surprisingly low”

offer, but the way forward is still difficult.

Concrete frames seem, at the moment, to be the only real holistic answer for the UK in terms of performance and longevity.

The technology of modular construction in lightweight, steel framing is developing rapidly. Both types of construction can achieve reasonably low carbon emissions by using the right grids, specifications and the correct offsite manufacturing techniques. Major steps forward have been taken in the research towards low (or zero) carbon cement as well as towards the reduction of CO2 emissions in steel production.

Marmalade Lane

The use of timber can be seen in Marmalade Lane, Cambridge.

Designed by Mole Architects, and using the Trivselhus Climate Shield building system, it incorporates slow-grown timber from sustainably managed forests, and is engineered off site to form a highperformance shell.

But while there are still other developments in Cambridge that have at least some sustainable credentials, the amount of real innovation and performance to date, in a city famed for just such a resource, is surprisingly low. Gratifyingly, there are signs this is changing.

One of the largest new developments

near to Cambridge is Northstowe, a multiphase development that effectively joins Longstanton and Oakington, eventually to result in 10,000 homes.

Urban Splash is a key part of this enterprise. The second phase of this development, ‘Inholm’, was recently granted planning permission. Comprising 406 homes, each unit is customisable, and is designed and built using the latest offsite, modular construction techniques.

The task of achieving net-zero carbon for all the buildings by 2050 is considerable and the change needs to begin now. The RIBA is taking the first steps to respond to the climate emergency and it is important the wider sector respond with the same urgency, yet collectively and in a cohesive and coordinated fashion.

Central government must have a role to play in providing a regulatory framework for these efforts. The subject is complex and the appropriate response project by project is likely to change from year to year as technologies evolve and new supply chains emerge as a response to tackle the global climate emergency.

Nicola Carniato, Technical Director and Sustainability Lead for AKT II, consulting civil and structural engineers, Cambridge

Cambridge Architecture 15

Climate change v conservation

Squaring the circle Current national and local planning policy gives a presumption in favour of sustainable development, however it also dictates that lowenergy measures should not contribute to degrading the character of a conservation area, listed building or other heritage asset

© 5th Studio

WORDS ROBERT BRACEY AND ANN BLYTHE, GRAHAM HANDLEY ARCHITECTS

Current national and local planning policy favours sustainable development, but that poses challenges when working in places with a significant historic context. So how can we balance saving history and saving the planet?

Cambridge contains an enormously diverse range of buildings of heritage significance, in a wide variety of localities, each with a deeply differentiated character. Preserving the character of these in the face of strong commercial pressures for change and growth would appear vital, but should be weighed against the fundamentally more vital need to avoid climate catastrophe.

Although there is not a prescribed architectural style for low-energy building, there are a number of key design elements required to achieve a low-carbon building that present necessary challenges when working in a historic context. These might include: Orientation Used for solar gain/control and also to avoid heat loss from prevailing winds – may go completely against the grain of dense urban streets.

Minimising surface area / volume In order to reduce heat loss, this can result in overly simple shapes – at odds with articulating a hierarchy of form within a historic setting.

Glazed area Glazed areas can vary considerably depending on the sustainability approach (passive solar v reducing energy losses). This may need considering against the local surroundings.

Passive solar control Louvres, renewable energy (for example,

Trinity College has adopted an integrated package of works to reduce its energy consumption, including discrete PV panels on the roof of the Wolfson Building

photovoltaic panels) may appear incongruous in the locality.

Other, potentially less visible, measures contribute to a lower carbon profile, for example: continuous thermal envelope that improve on Building Regulations minimum targets; airtight construction of the envelope; use of heat recovery systems (mechanical ventilation or waste water); or heat pumps (although external plant

can prove difficult on dense urban sites – both in space and acoustics).

Listed buildings are even more challenging, both in their performance and fabric condition.

Conservation officers can sometimes resist any additions, but there are still ways of improving energy efficiency without losing historic fabric, such as: installation of high-performance insulation; or adding insulation internally or

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16 Cambridge Architecture

© Mikhail Riches

Climate change v conservation

© Graham Handley Architects

In a conservation area, orientation to maximise solar gain is often difficult to achieve; this example, at Goldsmith Street in Norwich, is a rare success

externally where there was none before (providing that it doesn’t affect the building performance or historic features); installation of secondary glazing; or replacing single glazing with double glazing where the originals are beyond repair.

Given the current heritage constraints to building in conservation areas and undertaking works to listed buildings, it is clear more radical approaches will be required to significantly reduce the impact of development upon the climate. These might include: Evaluation the city as a whole Consideration of a discrete settlement within an overall carbon ‘budget’, which could be apportioned to different localities within the settlement in a way that reflected their relative heritage importance.

The downside of this approach might be to create localities where ‘anything goes’, so long as development is highly energy efficient.

Evaluation of each locality Examination of distinctive and important characteristics, with a presumption in favour of low-carbon development that does not detract from these.

External insulation applied to the Grade II-listed, 1930s Kings Willow house has considerably improved thermal performance without adversely affecting the external features; the repaired Crittall windows were reinstated with the same original relationship to the external face carbon emissions. It might result in more existing buildings being re-used, the AJ RetroFirst Campaign suggests that ‘the most sustainable building is the one that already exists’, and would be particularly appropriate in conservation areas.

Education A broader education of conservation officers to include some understanding of the science behind sustainability. This might bring about a more flexible approach to, for example, the idea of renewable installations such as PV panels on the roofs of listed buildings.

© Allies and Morrison

Analysis of materials, technologies and whole life-cycle evaluation This approach involves evaluating and comparing embodied energies (including impact of demolition where relevant), transport distances and future

In conclusion

The Cranmer Road Passivhaus accommodation for King’s College is contemporary yet sympathetic to the Arts and Crafts Grasshopper Lodge and Cranmer Lodge adjacent

Although it is highly desirable to protect those places and buildings that contribute to the visual and cultural quality of a locality, it is clear that safeguarding the planet should be given a far higher priority.

This highlights the importance of an open and collaborative approach between architect and conservation officer, to achieve significant reductions in energy use while also respecting our heritage.

Cambridge Architecture 17

Biodiversity

Net gains In parallel to the climate crisis, we also face significant loss of ecological habitat, with trees and water courses under threat from pollution and the broader effects of climate change.

Ecologist Will O’Connor explores the importance of protecting and enhancing natural habitats and how they can be incorporated into new developments WORDS WILL O’CONNOR

Impact on biodiversity

We are fortunate to live and work in an

18 Cambridge Architecture

area of growth and prosperity, but with this comes demand for housing, workplaces, schools and other infrastructure. This inevitably leads to loss of biodiversity.

As habitats are removed, remnant areas become increasingly isolated, and natural processes start to deteriorate.

Development also has indirect impacts on our environment. Sensitive nature reserves can become damaged as nearby residential schemes result in increased footfall and recreational pressure. More people and businesses place demands on resources such as water, which leads to degradation of chalk streams.

We must ensure growth and prosperity are sustainable for us, and for our environment. As ecologists, we work with architects to ensure that development protects and enhances our environment.

An emerging topic within the ecological sector is the principle of ‘biodiversity net gain’. This means leaving biodiversity in a better condition than we found it. The concept has been with us in the principles of sustainability for decades, and a policy of no net loss of biodiversity is already embedded in the National Planning Policy Framework. However, it is highly likely that the forthcoming Environment Bill will make biodiversity net gain mandatory.

A mandatory 10 per cent net gain would represent a significant step change in how we consider biodiversity within our projects.

Living Roof at the David Attenborough Building for the University of Cambridge

Bee lawns can provide ecological benefits and withstand routine maintenance

© Cambridge Conservation Initiative

© MKA Ecology

A

s an ecologist, I am delighted to observe increasing awareness of biodiversity, and a growing consensus that we must work together to protect and enhance the natural world. As evidence of biodiversity loss grows, so does understanding of the importance of biodiversity.

A thriving natural environment can make us happier and healthier, provide critical services including flood protection and urban cooling, and create beautiful places for living and working. Here, we explore the concept of biodiversity net gain and approaches to it in planning and design of developments.

In Greater Cambridge, we are lucky to be surrounded by a range of varied and important habitats and species.

Ancient woodlands to the west support internationally important populations of barbastelle bat. To the south are chalk streams (an internationally rare habitat almost entirely restricted to southern England), and chalk grassland roadside verges that are home to nationally rare (and splendidly named) moon carrot plants.

The scarce bittern hunts in fens to the north, which connect to waterways that reach right into the heart of the city.

© MKA Ecology

© MKA Ecology

Biodiversity

Integrated bat boxes at Newnham College

Making comparisons

Until recently, it was difficult to measure and demonstrate potential change in biodiversity resulting from development.

But increasingly sophisticated tools make quantifiable comparisons between baseline conditions and proposed environments, enabling ecologists to demonstrate clearly and transparently to clients and stakeholders what can be done to deliver biodiversity net gain.

With these tools, ecologists assess biodiversity value using attributes such as distinctiveness, size, connectivity and condition. When evaluating proposed habitats other factors are relevant, including how difficult habitats are to create and how long they take to establish.

The tools can also help us to understand the value of offsite enhancements (contributing to wider conservation efforts) where net gain is not achievable onsite.

Delivering net gains requires identification of interventions in keeping with the surrounding landscape. Your ecologist will identify which species and habitats are important and help you to develop interventions that provide for them. Much of the focus will be on maximising the value of green infrastructure; for example, changing an area of amenity grassland into a bee lawn with its low flowering perennials that can withstand regular mowing but still

Species-rich grassland can offer biodiverse habitats integrated into landscape

provide nectar for pollinating insects.

Living roofs

In urban environments with limited space, living roofs can make significant contributions to biodiversity gain. The redeveloped David Attenborough Building has a flagship example of a living roof for our city. The diverse substrates and rich flora are fantastic resources for invertebrates in an urban environment. The value of living roofs is recognised within the council’s recent Local Plan that indicates these

“We are fortunate to live and work in an area of growth and prosperity, but with this comes demand for housing, workplaces, schools and other infrastructure. This inevitably leads to loss of biodiversity”

should be considered on all flat roofs in the city.

Interventions need not be intrusive. At Newnham College, MKA Ecology identified important bat roosts. Working closely with the project team, we installed integrated bat boxes behind the new brickwork. The Dorothy Garrod Building went on to win Building of the Year at the RIBA East Awards in 2019, as well as awards for the brickwork. It is satisfying that great architecture and craftsmanship can go hand in hand with species conservation.

Biodiversity net gain is not just about habitat and species conservation. It can help to create beautiful, sustainable places to live and work, be that in the city centre, suburban fringes or rural environments.

With new policies and legislations, and the tools to deliver them, we are making progress in redressing biodiversity losses.

Innovation and collaboration between architects and ecologists will help to drive this forward and deliver net gains for both nature and people.

Will O’Connor is a chartered ecological consultant with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients to make the most for biodiversity, and for their projects. He is Director and Principal Ecologist at MKA Ecology Ltd with offices in Cambridge, London and Milton Keynes.

Cambridge Architecture 19

CoFarm Cambridge

Food for thought

Hundreds of local households have expressed an interest in participating in and benefiting from the first Cambridge community farm – bringing people together to grow and share delicious, nutritious food and help build stronger and healthier ecosystems © R H Partnership

WORDS GAVIN SHELTON, FOUNDER AND CEO OF COFARM FOUNDATION

T

he only credible path to simultaneously addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and health inequalities in our communities is through radically redesigning and reorganising our food systems. So, redesign them we must.

A good place to start may be to consider what food is for. Few would disagree that food is for ensuring healthy bodies and healthy minds. But food is also for bringing people in families, friendship groups and communities together. It is for expressing love and showing each other that we care. Food is

for exploring and celebrating our own and others cultures and differences and it is for creating just and dignified employment opportunities. Resilient food systems may only, by definition, deliver these benefits if they do so without degrading the natural systems upon which they ultimately rely – healthy soils, biodiversity, clean and abundant water and stable climatic conditions.

While the complexity of this design brief might seem daunting, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has, happily, become an enthusiastic advocate for scaling a science, practice and global movement that holistically drives progress against all 17 of the Sustainable

Vision for the CoFarm Cambridge. It will be a beautiful and healthenhancing space, as well as productive and efficient

Excellence in Engineering 20 Cambridge Architecture

Development Goals – agroecology.

The RSA’s Food, Farming and Countryside Commission – the deepest and broadest review of food, farming and land-use systems we’ve ever had in the UK – echoes FAO’s call for a 10-year ‘just transition’ to agroecological food systems in its final recommendations last year.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, agroecology – encompassing social, political and economic dimensions as well as agriculture and the environment – recognises that: ‘Agricultural innovations respond better to local challenges when they are co-created through participatory processes.’

K J TA I T ENGINEERS

CoFarm Cambridge

With this in mind, we launched a consultation process in the spring of 2019 in order to engage the local community in the design and co-creation of Cambridge city’s first community farm, on seven acres of agricultural green belt land off Barnwell Road, Abbey. Around 200 households took part in the consultation, and the number of those keen to participate in and benefit from the farm has since more than doubled.

The consultation generated an incredibly diverse set of needs, aspirations and ideas that we distilled into a Strategic Design Brief for RH Partnership. RHP very generously responded, on a pro-bono basis, with the design concepts shown for the community farm. The designs offer elegant solutions to the complex set of design challenges we gave RHP, and will be instrumental in helping to deliver CoFarm’s core purpose of bringing people together to grow and share delicious, nutritious food and help build stronger, healthier ecosystems and communities.

Critical to the farm’s success will be ensuring that we produce a high enough volume of great-quality organic food. We have a team of three highly experienced growers on board, who are preparing to start getting crops in the ground as the spring advances. A community facilitator will work with them to ensure that everyone (households, schools, community groups and local businesses) get the most out of their co-farming experiences.

Consistently overlooked, but fundamental to designing resilient food systems is that they are underpinned by regenerative, inclusive business models. We incorporated (on World Food Day in October) a not-for-profit group of companies. The group consists of a charitable parent – CoFarm Foundation – governed by an exceptional Board of Trustees, and two wholly owned operating subsidiaries. CoFarm Cambridge will deliver the Barnwell Road pilot (and any additional sites that become available around Cambridge); and CoFarm Estate is for enabling the creation of a distributed national network of community farms on existing farm holdings and estates and new developments.

Co-farming is a collaborative effort that draws on the time, energy, expertise and support of a broad range of individuals, groups and organisations.

As well as RH Partnership, they include: Abbey People, Arm, Allia, Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance, Cambridge 2030, Cambridge United Community Trust, Cambridge Sustainable

© R H Partnership

Community consultation

RHP was presented with a challenging design brief and responded with elegant solutions

Food, Essex University, Groundwork East, Horizon Resource Centre, St. Andrews Church, the RSA and RSPB. To explore incorporating co-farming into the design of new community developments contact Gavin Shelton,

Founder and CEO of CoFarm Foundation: gavin.shelton@cofarm.co Visit cofarm.co or follow @cofarmHQ to learn more, sign up for news or support CoFarm Foundation’s work with a donation.

Cambridge Architecture 21

CFCI Awards

Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2019 the use of materials and quality of craftsmanship of the constructors.

Representing the range and diversity of submissions, the Best Conservation, Alteration or Extension of an Existing Building Award was also split into 'large' and 'small' categories based on their construction value of above or below £2m, respectively.

An extraordinarily high standard was demonstrated by all the entrants this year and, while the annual awards evening was regrettably cancelled because of public health concerns in relation to the Covid-19 outbreak, the winners have much to be proud of.

We look forward to celebrating with the CFCI and Cambridge City Council at next year's awards. © Richard Fraser

© Hufton+Crow

The Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry and Cambridge City Council announced the winners of the Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2019 in March this year.

The awards celebrate projects demonstrating the highest level of design and workmanship across the city from the previous year, with commendations for projects worthy of mention, and prizes only awarded to the very best in each category.

There was tough competition in all categories this year, including the Best New Building – Large category, which was jointly awarded to two schemes reflecting the quality of submissions, and the Craftsmanship Award celebrating

Best new building – small

2b Derwent Close

Architect: Haysom Ward Miller Architects Contractor: CCS Ltd

Best conservation, alteration or extension of an existing building – large

Simon Sainsbury Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School Architect: Stanton Williams Contractor: SDC Builders

Best conservation, alteration or extension of an existing building – small

33-34 Trumpington Street

Architect: Bidwells LLP Contractor: Thorwood Construction Limited ‘Nos. 33-34 Trumpington Street is another hidden gem which has been meticulously repaired and refurbished… the conservation of the fabric has been pursued very carefully with excellent results.’

22 Cambridge Architecture

© Dirk Lindner

CFCI Awards

Best conservation, alteration or extension of an existing building – small

David Parr House

© Matthew Smith

Architect: Cowper Griffith Architects Contractor: F.A. Valiant & Son

Best new building – large

Craftsmanship award

Cambridge Assessment

Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre Architect: Haworth Tompkins Contractor: RG Carter

© Philip Vile

© David Butler

Architect: Eric Parry Architects Contractor: Bouygues (UK) Ltd

© Morley von Sternberg

Best new building – large

Marmalade Lane

© Ruth Scally

Architect: Mole Architects Contractor: Coulson Building Group ‘The focus on community and the diversity of the built form of the exteriors has created a quality piece of urban architecture.’

Craftsmanship award Engineering and sustainability project of the year

Cambridge Central Mosque

Architect: Marks Barfield Architects Contractor: Gilbert-Ash ‘The scheme deserves high praise for the use of materials and the quality of craftsmanship. The mosque is a very positive addition to the local area and the streets of Cambridge.’

Cambridge Architecture 23

Local Plan

Taking the right path With the Issues and Options consultation recently completed, Hana Loftus, from the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, outlines how climate resilience is being explored in the development of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, the first joint plan for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils WORDS HANA LOFTUS

I

t is a pivotal time for all those involved in planning for the long-term future and, for those of us working to set the local statutory framework, it is something of which we are keenly aware.

At the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service – the joint service for Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils – we are, with good timing, just starting to develop a new Local Plan for Greater Cambridge, and the climate crisis is central to how this will take shape.

Both councils have recently declared a climate emergency, and we know this needs to be backed up with action. The new Local Plan will be an important tool to make this happen, and it will be developed in a fast-changing context of national policy, technological disruption and social shifts.

Critical time

The new Local Plan is likely to come into force around 2024, and will be in effect up to 2040 or possibly beyond. It will, therefore, cover the critical period for us to transition to a net-zero carbon

How will planned housing and jobs be accompanied by the services and facilities to support them sustainably?

society; central government has tasked us with achieving this by 2050 and, to achieve that target, we need to be acting decisively much sooner than that.

Achieving net-zero carbon – where we only produce as much CO2 as is absorbed by vegetation or (as yet unproven) carbon-capture technology – is a huge challenge and will fundamentally alter every aspect of our lives.

How can we transition to net-zero carbon while supporting those in our communities who are most vulnerable to the shocks these kinds of transitions often bring? New public transport infrastructure funding, such as the City Deal, is a benefit of our growing, nationally important economy – and our growth in jobs means we must build homes to keep up: how can we do this while reducing our emissions? How can we create significant behaviour changes that reduce the need to travel unsustainably, while ensuring that everyone, no matter their needs, can still access services and lead fulfilling, prosperous and social lives? What is the wider role of planning and placemaking in helping to facilitate the shift to zerocarbon lifestyles?

Top of the tree

We have been asking our communities these big and challenging questions as part of the ‘First Conversation’ consultation that is starting to shape the new Local Plan for Greater Cambridge.

Climate change is the ‘top of the tree’ – quite literally, in our keystone graphic for the consultation – and must be addressed holistically with the other key issues we need to tackle. These include how we ensure wellbeing and social inclusion, grow our biodiversity and green space network, and protect our heritage

24 Cambridge Architecture

Local Plan

and create great new places of which future generations will be proud.

At the Big Debate – an event that platformed a range of local groups, including youth climate activists – we heard passionate and well-argued views about how Greater Cambridge should transition – fast – to reduce our climate impacts and adapt to the scale of climate change that is already inevitable. This is just the start of the process and we want to hear as many views and voices as we can – we need the expertise of the architecture and engineering professions, to help us shape Greater Cambridge to be sustainable, resilient and adaptive.

Embedding resilience

Resilience is a key theme and will be rising up the agenda very quickly. We must make sure that at the scale of the whole community, and at the scale of the individual home, we embed resilient design.

We are thinking about what this means and commissioning research to support our policy development but we are aware of some big challenges.

We are considering how buildings can be adapted as the climate changes over their lifespan to hotter summers and wetter winters; how they can protect

their inhabitants from flooding and be cleaned out quickly; and how they can adapt to new uses as behaviours and our economy changes – whole typologies of buildings may start to become redundant and ripe for adaptive reuse.

We need to consider how our energy grid can be made resilient for the massive increase in electricity demand from electric vehicles and the phasing out of gas boilers – we need to be sure that the right back-up and emergency systems are in place. We have more than 100 villages within the new Local Plan area, and we need to make sure that their communities – not just the urban core – are supported and protected, along with the biodiversity of our landscapes.

No time to waste

We will need to be bold but also practical, and while the new Local Plan will take several years to be developed, we know that we have no time to waste.

We recently adopted a Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Document as a practical guide to what can and should be done right now. It covers a huge range of issues – from designing buildings for an overheating climate, specifying lowembodied energy materials, designing

Options for focusing growth explored in the Issues and Options consultation

for reuse and disassembly, to creating biodiverse landscape design that will be resilient to the changing climate in terms of species choice, flooding, and much more.

The Sustainable Design and Construction SPD, and other planning guidance such as the Flood and Surface Water SPD we adopted in 2016, is the start of developing a policy and guidance framework for how Greater Cambridge meets the climate challenge, but we need the development industry as a whole to embrace this challenge wholeheartedly. We want to see planning applications that genuinely consider the long-term future and set out clearly how they have been designed to be resilient and adaptive. This will involve partnership working between us as a planning authority and many other branches of central and local government and regulation – we can’t do this all through planning.

Our communities are demanding bold and quick action on climate issues and the two councils are certainly listening. We want to challenge, and be challenged – and encourage you all to help us find the right path forward.

Find out more at www.greatercambridgeplanning.org

Densification of existing urban areas

Edge of Cambridge – outside the green belt

Edge of Cambridge – in the green belt

Dispersal – new settlements

Dispersal – villages

Public transport corridors

Cambridge Architecture 25

3C Building Control continues to demonstrate resilience as a successful shared service, winning numerous awards and continuing to expand and develop the whole team.

We have responded to the demands of the industry and work with the project team; providing a bespoke service, giving pre-app advice at early RIBA design stages through to versatile site inspections and completion.

This ensures early design certainty and delivery of a compliant building on site. We believe this is the most professional way to deliver Building Control, with the current issues of building insurance, this is more important than ever!

5 of our 17 surveyors are now accredited for “in scope” through the LABC competency framework and make up our diverse and experienced team.

3C Building Control

@3cBuilding

Complex projects require

Professional Builders.

Design and construction of new student accommodation in Cambridge city centre

Trinity College Customer:

University of Cambridge

Location:

Round Church Street, Cambridge

Value:

£10.1m

Works consist of the design and construction of new postgraduate accommodation and retail space with associated external works, following the demolition of existing terrace houses.

Two projects are running concurrently from the same archeological site in the city centre, which poses an array of logistical challenges prior to main works.

morgansindallci.com Tel: 01223 836 611

Fax: 01223 830 099

Morgan Sindall Construction Babraham Road, Sawston Cambridge, CB22 3LJ

Morgan Sindall Construction is a leading UK contractor with expertise across a range of sectors. For enquiries, please contact our team or visit our website.

Local Plan

Design for life Here, Emma Davies, Principal Sustainability Consultant at Greater Cambridge Planning, outlines key aspects of designing for resilience WORDS EMMA DAVIES

R

esponding to our changing climate is a key role for the planning system, and our new Greater Cambridge Sustainable Design and Construction SPD seeks to ensure that this is embedded into the design of all development proposals.

Produced with input from environmental health professionals, ecologists, urban designers and landscape architects from across the councils, the document is a key consideration in determining applications, and includes much greater emphasis on the need for climate resilience to be integrated at an early design stage.

Our climate is already changing, and the architectural design of new buildings needs to respond to this so that residents and building occupiers do not have to rely on complex systems and technologies that are expensive to maintain.”

It is also important to look to measures beyond buildings themselves, seeking opportunities within the landscape setting of new developments for adaptation.

This will often require a multidisciplinary approach to design in order to maximise

Community wind generation

Public transport

benefits, recognising the role of all members of the design team in responding to climate change.

Architects, landscape architects, sustainability and M&E consultants and drainage engineers all have a role to play in ensuring that adapting to our changing climate informs the design of new development.

Adaptation measures can be implemented at a variety of scales, and consideration should be given to the following measures:

Expected changes in local climate by 2070

●

●

●

●

Renewable technology retrofitted to existing buildings

Rooftop greening

Retrofit existing buildings to improve energy efficiency

Taking architectural approaches to design out issues such as overheating.

The UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment identifies the risks to health wellbeing and productivity from high temperatures as one of the six priority risks for action in the UK. Overheating in the built environment is already an issue in relatively cool summers, with research indicating that 20 per cent of homes in England already experience overheating. Designing new developments to reduce the risk of overheating, following the cooling hierarchy should be a priority.

The role of green infrastructure in helping to enhance the adaptive capacity of an area, for example through enhancing urban cooling.

Implementing resilient architecture and construction to minimise impacts.

The role of cool materials in minimising microclimatic effects.

The use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and flood-resilient architecture alongside taking an integrated approach to water management and maximising the reuse of water.

●

Sustainable building materials – more timber, less concrete

Increased tree planting

Sustainable urban drainage systems to soak up stormwater

Increased biodiversity

Shade windows to prevent overheating

Designing for resilience: potential climate change mitigation measures

Cambridge Architecture 27

Local Plan

© Mole Architects

A concept image of the public realm at Waterbeach

An opportunity for change?

WORDS MEREDITH BOWLES

Meredith Bowles, principal at Mole Architects, sets out a vision for the upcoming Greater Cambridge Local Plan to tackle climate change head on with ambitious targets for the next decade and beyond

bremner partnership www.bremnerpartnership.com stuartb@bremnerpartnership.com Tel: 01223 257778 | Mob: 07711 412583

28 Cambridge Architecture

T

here’s no time to waste.

Cambridge trumpets itself as a world-class city, a city that innovates, and attracts world talent. We need leadership that’s prepared to stand up against central government to insist that in Cambridge we do things better. We need leadership to ensure that the planned growth for Cambridge will enhance lives and be zero carbon; no small challenge.

Other cities have done so, and we can too.

Over the past 20 years, carbon emissions caused by buildings and transportation have barely gone down at all despite all the fine words. What does it mean to declare a climate emergency,

unless we act like it’s an emergency?

As a country, we’ve failed to take responsibility; we make ourselves feel good that we have a success story about renewable energy that last year generated a third of electricity; in fact, it only represents 11 per cent of energy consumed, the rest being mainly oil and gas.1 If we include emissions due to imported goods, in other words based on our consumption, our carbon emissions as a country have stayed the same as they were in the 1970s, at around 700 million tonnes.2 We must make significant changes in all aspects of society: in industry, transport, the financial markets, aviation, agriculture, waste, energy, infrastructure – everywhere.

Quantity surveying Project management Consultancy

Local Plan

We have legislated for massive growth in our region. We can decide now whether to also legislate for a radical change in how this change happens, or simply stand by and witness adverse events as they occur.

that were built at the scale of a human on foot, rather than the car?

Community happiness

Many studies have shown that developments that are denser and encourage a sense of neighbourliness are beneficial; this is borne out in our National Wellbeing Survey – 62 per cent of people valuing social connectedness, and 77 per cent of people valuing a neighbourhood that feels safe to walk in at night.5 The Healthy New Towns Initiative, written by the Town Country Planning Association with the NHS, identified more compact, walkable neighbourhoods as fundamental to a place that encourages activity and social connectedness. It sets out the need for community hubs, and the positive effect of co-located

Transport, connectedness

How can managing growth mean a reduction of carbon emissions? If we accept that growth is happening at all we must make massive changes. The growth within Greater Cambridge is about half the population of Cambridge City.

Of the new settlements that have been built already, 77 per cent of people travel to work by car.3 What else are they supposed to do? Chapter 10 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan – Sustainable Transport and Infrastructure – puts the onus on applicants to show via a travel plan that sustainable travel is possible, while at the same time recognising that the model for all development is currently based around the private car; the same plan assumes two spaces per dwelling are needed.

We must ensure a massively successful public transport system is attractive and affordable. Transport is now the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and private car journeys nationally have gone up year on year. We are about to add to this with an anticipated additional 25,000 additional daily car movements in and out of Cambridge, unless predictions change.4 We must make cycling and walking a part of everyone’s day, so transport stops are within 800 metres of everyone’s house, and the new Cambridge Greenways cycling network is safe, attractive and continuous.

We have to make a joined-up strategic plan for transport that forms the basis of all future development plans. The integration of the Guided Bus, local bus services, Rural Transport Hubs, the CamMetro, and Greenways cycle routes must be at the core of all new decisions.

facilities; schools, shops and healthcare alongside community rooms. It advocates green streets, and places that children can play in, both supervised and later, for exploration and discovery.6

The reality of now

There are currently applications for 40,000 new homes; 60,000 if you include Alconbury and the future Marshalls site.

Most of these are very much business as usual. There is no strategic infrastructure plan that connects these disparate developments.

In the absence of a Regional Spatial Plan, individual applicants do their best to answer questions of connectivity, but it’s not in their gift to do so. All of them are based on South Cambridgeshire’s plan, much of the housing with a density of 30

© 5th Studio

“What we need is for local government to take a lead, to buy the land, make the investment, and run the systems for the common good”

Dense cities, healthy cities Low-density, suburban, sprawling places made up of detached houses make it almost impossible for people to live within easy reach of public transport. If we live within about 800m of a bus stop we’re more likely to walk there; the same goes for schools or parks, or shops.

Intrinsically, we know places like this work and feel good. How many people go on holiday to suburbia, as opposed to enjoying places with streets and squares,

Rural connectivity

Smith and Wallwork Ltd 50 St Andrews Street, Cambridge, CB2 3AH www.smithandwallwork.com 01223 750 249 contact@smithandwallwork.com Cambridge Architecture 29

© Greater Cambridge Planning Service

Local Plan

Transport infrastructure across Greater Cambridge dwellings per hectare. No development that I’ve seen has, at its heart, a proper strategy for a wholly connected public transport system that relies on a series of interconnected modes of transport, because, to date, it doesn’t exist. We’re locking ourselves into a series of isolated soulless commuter suburbs, driven by a planning system that cannot envisage something that doesn’t already exist.

But these are developments that are already in planning. There’s an urgency to address this, and it has to be addressed by local government taking control of the process, becoming developers, employing designers and engineers and, if necessary, upsetting developers along the way.

Aside from the University’s land at Eddington, every development works by getting outline permission for the site, producing a design code, and selling off the plots to housebuilders. Housebuilders sell a product; they’re not interested in creating places. They have house types that make them money. As far as they’re concerned, anything more complicated eats into profits; profit margins being between 20-30 per cent with absolute annual profits topping £1 billion.7

How it can be achieved?

Development must be led by institutions

that care about long-term value, that genuinely seek to drive up standards, make places that put people first, and have a will to tackle the climate emergency.

We need zero-carbon homes now, not some time later. We need green infrastructure with massive tree planting, we need places that are built around public transport. We need an electricity supply built for a future supplying all cars and homes with power. None of this will happen if left to the market to provide it.

Legislation is designed to prevent people doing bad things and can only encourage them to seek excellence.

We’ve had 20 years of encouragement and exemplars, which haven’t made much of an impact. What we need is for local government to take a lead, to buy the land, make the investment, and run the systems for the common good.

In Zurich, they held a referendum in 2011 to make 33 per cent of all housing in the city not-for-profit co-operative housing, owned and managed by the residents. The city ensures that not-for-profit developers get first option on development land. Last year, a new development for 1,400 people based on this model won the World Habitat Awards, creating a whole neighbourhood of not-for-profit housing, organised by the residents.8

“What does it mean to declare a climate emergency, unless we act like it’s an emergency?”

30 Cambridge Architecture

In Berlin, the city government made a decision in 2012 to increase the amount of affordable citizen-led housing by zoning control; taking land out of the general market and making it possible for local resident groups to build for themselves.

The government facilitates this by setting aside land and providing professional assistance to groups in development financing and construction.9 In Hamburg, 20 per cent of housing land is set aside in this way. The resulting Baugruppen developments offer families a secure home and a social environment that they helped to create, usually arranged around communal gardens.

Cambridge trumpets itself as a worldclass city; a city that innovates, and attracts world talent. It’s the city that won the Stirling Prize for Accordia, in part because of the interventions of the then head of planning, Peter Studdert, who insisted that standards should be higher if the council’s land was to be developed for housing.

Under Sian Reid and Rod Cantrill, the city raised the bar at the council-owned Clay Farm, which was developed to Passivhaus standards, and at Marmalade Lane in Orchard Park, assisting the co-housing group to build the largest co-housing project in the UK, and pointing the way to a more socially sustainable form of living.

It takes political leadership to decide to challenge the status quo. We need leadership that’s prepared to stand up against central government to insist that, in Cambridge, we will do things better.

We should have 100 per cent Passivhaus buildings. We should have an integrated local transport system. We should have a massive increase in affordable notfor-profit housing. We should have new neighbourhoods that have community parks, with shops and space for businesses and communities to grow. We should have abundant green spaces.

We shouldn’t wait for change. We should be making it happen.

References 1 BEIS Energy Consumption in the UK (ECUK) 1970 to 2018 25 July 2019 2 Source: Eora, 2018, World Resource Institute, 2017 and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2019b. This graph has been compiled using data for consumption-based emissions from Eora, 2018, and territorial-based emissions from WRI, 2017 and BEIS, 2019 3 Cambridge sub-region new development surveys 2006-2012: summary and comparison 2012 4 www.greatercambridge.org.uk/transport 5 Office for National Statistics: Personal wellbeing in the UK: April 2018 to March 2019 6 www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/innovation/ healthy-new-towns 7 www.theguardian.com/business/2019/ sep/04/barratt-posts-record-910m-profitdespite-tough-housing-market 8 issuu.com/birkhauser.ch/docs/more_than_ housing 9 www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/ wohnungsbau/en/strategie/index.shtml

Technical

Finding relief Anil Arora examines the often-overlooked research and development tax relief and the important part it can play in the design of more sustainable buildings

© iStock EnginKorkmaz

WORDS ANIL ARORA ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT PEM ACCOUNTANTS

Sustainable design is clearly one of the key areas where research and development is both required and an opportunity. Technology is continuously evolving, and taking advantage of new techniques to reduce energy consumption and increase building performance will be key drivers in the pursuit of net-zero carbon.

In exploring how such technologies work in practice, architects (operating through a limited company) may be eligible for tax relief in the form of R&D tax credits. This government scheme is designed to boost innovation by supporting businesses which seek to improve or overcome challenges or uncertainties in their products and processes. The scheme is administered by HMRC. The Department for Business, Innovation

and Skills (BIS) guidelines consider R&D to ‘… take place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in science or technology’. Additionally, ‘the activities that directly contribute to achieving this advance in science or technology, through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty, are R&D’. As buildings become more complex, the design process often includes unique research, for example solar-shading systems that help reduce heat gain.

R&D tax relief is only available to companies that have invested resources developing new or improved products, processes and software.

For every £100 spent on qualifying R&D, the company will be eligible for a further £130 deduction against their profits, thus reducing tax

liabilities. Under the SME R&D tax credit scheme, your company could claim an enhanced tax deduction from 1 April 2015 of up to 230 per cent of qualifying expenditure, significantly reducing your company’s tax bill.

Profit-making companies will receive a 24.7 per cent tax saving on their qualifying expenditure.

It is also possible for a loss-making SME business to claim a cash credit of up to 33.35 per cent of its qualifying R&D expenditure. Larger companies may benefit from the R&D Expenditure Credits (RDEC) regime and additional tax relief can be reinvested in future architectural R&D activities.

Rewarding innovation and fuelling growth, R&D tax credits could help architects push sustainable design further.

Cambridge Architecture 31

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Sustainable future

Marmalade Lane, Cambridge

Looking forwards Achieving net-zero carbon might seem like an almost impossible target, but don’t despair: Alice Hamlin and Louise McGarrigle, of Mole Architects, run through some of the tools that exist to help you design sustainably

W

e are at a frightening point in time.

The urgency of the problem we face is now painfully clear, but the scale of change required is overwhelming. There has been a shift over the past year or so, with many more people waking up to this crisis and joining together with energy and commitment to tackle it. In the absence of proper support and leadership from central government, it is proving hard for individuals and groups to gain traction, but this is the time to roll up our sleeves and find our own voices.

In the construction industry, we know what is needed – highly efficient new buildings and a programme to retrofit the ones we already have, in a

© Jim Stephenson

WORDS ALICE HAMLIN, LOUISE MCGARRIGLE

way that minimises embodied carbon.

The problem is how, and each business will have its own challenges to tackle. It requires clients to look hard at their projects and raise ambitions.

Design teams rapidly need to address gaps in their skill sets, particularly understanding the cost implications of lower carbon options, so that we can fully support our clients.

How?

The guidance available is growing. The UK Green Building Council has published a definition of net zero, and a guide to clients for setting the brief for life-cycle assessment. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) guide to calculating embodied carbon gives clear and practical guidance on what needs to be included in calculations. The Embodied

Residents at Marmalade Lane had high ambitions for sustainability, and through their cohousing community are supporting each other in working towards lower-impact lifestyles

Cambridge Architecture 33

Sustainable future

Actions Get your practice signed up for the RIBA 2030 challenge. This sets out a series of targets for operational energy, embodied carbon and water use, with gradual reductions up to 2030. It involves uploading anonymised project data to a portal that will form a database for everyone to make use of, and understand what is making the targets difficult to hit: https://www.architecture.com/about/policy/climateaction/2030-climate-challenge

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Review design and actual data from previous projects.

For domestic clients, you can estimate how much energy is going into heating by comparing winter and summer meter readings.

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When specifying materials, always ask manufacturers for the embodied carbon of their products, how it compares with their competitors, and whether they have an Environmental Performance Declaration. The EPD provides transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of products.

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If your team doesn’t have the fee or the time to carry out life-cycle assessments on your projects, download and have a play with the ICE database. By taking volumes from a 3D model or a cost plan, it is fairly straightforward to calculate modules A1-A3 of your project’s embodied carbon, referred to as ‘cradle to gate’: http://www.circularecology.com/ embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-database.html#.

XkZdUWj7SUk

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Strive to be ‘carbon positive’ – using materials that sequester carbon from the atmosphere and aiming for a building that generates more energy than it consumes.

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Carbon Primer by the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) gives practical advice on where to look for savings. New guidance and tools continue to be published, many of them open source. We have a wealth of organisations here in Cambridge doing excellent work already, and between us we can keep sharing ideas and support.

Embodied carbon is a particular challenge for us as a practice, and appears to be a common theme. Full life-cycle assessments are still unusual on larger projects, and on smaller projects clients can’t fund this service. Quick, earlystage calculators are available, the most accessible for Revit users being Hawkins\ Brown’s H\B:ERT plugin, which gives a rough calculation from a BIM model. For

34 Cambridge Architecture

non-Revit users, the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) database is a start, and an effective way to use it might be to base the volumes on a recent cost plan.

Early decisions

Early-stage decisions are where the greatest reductions can be made, and so these quick tools are useful to help understand the impact of our choices, even if the final figures are not 100 per cent accurate. As a general rule, the largest embodied-carbon savings for a new build come from the form factor. In a recent study, we found that a scheme based on apartment blocks and terraces had 40 per cent less embodied carbon compared with achieving the same density with semi-detached houses.

“In the construction industry, we know what is needed – highly efficient new buildings and a programme to retrofit the ones we already have, in a way that minimises embodied carbon”

© Tim Crocker

Sustainable future

What’s on: Cambridge Association of Architects is hosting events and talks on the climate challenge specifically related to architects.

Check out https://www. cambridgearchitects.org/ for upcoming events and monthly meetings

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Architects Climate Action Network meets bimonthly in London as an architects’ assembly focusing on different topics. Check out https:// www.architectscan.org/events to get involved.

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Cambridge Climate Lecture series 2020 has organised numerous talks exploring what we need to do now to reduce our CO2 emissions. https://climateseries.com/ news/48-announcing-ccls-2021

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Resources: Alongside reducing embodied carbon, we can’t forget about increasing energy efficiency with a fabric-first approach.

Tried-and-tested building standards, such as Passivhaus and the Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB) Standard, need to become the norm for clients to request and architects to work to. The AECB estimates that its standard can reduce overall CO2 emissions by 70 per cent compared with the UK average for buildings of each type. Critically, the ‘performance gap’ needs to be addressed; recent studies show that buildings use nearly double the assumed energy in use.

The introduction of mandatory airtightness testing would be an effective way to control build quality on projects where full certification is not possible.

Virido, Cambridge, by Pollard Thomas Edwards

In conclusion

The Re-use Atlas: A designer’s guide towards the circular economy, by Duncan Baker- Brown

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The push for net zero is an attempt to decouple our economic activity from carbon, but it is not going to be possible without also challenging the systems we work within and changing our lifestyles.

The model of endless growth that underlies the economy in its current form is incompatible with sustainability.

So, alongside working to reach net zero, we need to start a conversation – with our communities, politicians, businesses, colleagues, friends and families – about what the future should look like, and map our way to a different kind of economy and culture that allows humanity to thrive while bringing us back within the boundaries of what our planet can support.

Passive House Design, DETAIL Green Books

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LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide: https://www. leti.london/cedg

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RICS guide: Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment: https:// www.rics.org/uk/upholdingprofessional-standards/ sector-standards/buildingsurveying/whole-life-carbonassessment-for-the-builtenvironment/

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Ray Dolby Centre

The upper entrance

As we discovered in our 2018 interview, the University of Cambridge faces an interesting challenge: every new building has the potential to increase the overall carbon footprint of the estate. Alexander Reeve, Sustainable Buildings Adviser at the University, examines how sustainability has influenced the design of the new state-of-theart Cavendish Laboratories, currently under construction WORDS ALEXANDER REEVE

The horizon of the West Cambridge Campus is currently dominated by numerous cranes as Bouygues UK constructs a new home for the University of Cambridge’s historic Cavendish Laboratory. Made possible through £75million of government investment, and £75 million from the estate of sound pioneer Ray Dolby, the building will be named the Ray Dolby Centre in recognition of this extraordinary gift.

No more fossil gas

The project was conceived before the climate emergency became part of the national conversation; and was developed within a regulatory context that tended to encourage use of natural gas. Nevertheless, a bold decision was made to have no connection to the gas grid to avoid locking in a reliance on fossil fuels. The use of fossil natural gas as a bridge to a lower-carbon future has had its day – as reflected in government

plans to stop the installation of new domestic gas fired heating systems by 2025.

What happens if you apply this logic to a vast, energy-hungry laboratory? At the Ray Dolby Centre, all heating and cooling will be delivered by a combination of electric-driven air source and ground source heat pumps (served by 107 boreholes reaching more than 180m in depth). The strategy is looking increasingly farsighted as the CO2 emissions associated with grid electricity decline.

Renewable electricity is a precious resource, so efficiency will be maximised via an innovative site-wide heating and cooling strategy linking the centre with a neighbouring shared facilities hub and potential future developments on a common ‘ground loop’. The loop allows low-grade waste heat from laboratory cooling systems to be used, rather than rejected to the atmosphere. We should expect to see much more focus on sharing of energy resources in developments across the campus.

Cambridge Architecture 37

© Jestico+Whiles

Sounds sustainable

Ray Dolby Centre

The project reflects a trend where the influence of thermal modelling and sun-path analysis is apparent in the façade design. The building form is responsive to solar orientation with projecting horizontal and vertical fins on the south and east/ west facing façades respectively; particularly striking are the angled columns on the east façade of the public wing.

Building form is also influenced by a recognition that facilities need to be shared to avoid waste of resources and improve space-use rates. Layout is, therefore, driven more by space typology than by the research groupings that happened to be current at the briefing stage.

The neighbouring Shared Facilities Hub will foster further sharing, offering communal spaces for eating, study and teaching rather than ringfencing them within a particular department.

The needs of research often mean spaces are more about the science than the humans that must cohabit with the research equipment and processes. Therefore, the building form creates retreats for quiet concentrated thought and analysis in the form of cellular offices distributed around six peaceful internal courtyards. The offices are naturally ventilated and will help provide the essential contact with the natural world that underpins wellbeing.

Upfront carbon

Ray Dolby Centre space typologies

main building services in wings to the west, minimising interruptions in research floorplates.

Accommodating uncertainty in the sizing of mechanical and electrical systems was also a challenge. Hoare Lea blended analytical techniques and anecdotal evidence to promote an informed conversation with the University on the heating and cooling plant capacity required. Lean sizing is more likely to match the seasonal variation

The upfront emissions of CO2 embodied in the construction will nevertheless be significant.

It is hard to resolve the tension between a desire for the flexibility offered through oversizing, and the upfront cost. Normally, these conversations are in relation to financial cost but now there is an increasing willingness to account for the environmental cost. The RIBA’s 2030 Climate Challenge target to reduce the upfront CO2 emissions embodied in construction to less than 500 kgCO2e/m2 for non-domestic construction is a significant move in this respect.

Future uncertainty

The future directions in physics research are unknown, so adaptation is inevitable.

A key move by Jestico + Whiles was to locate

© Jestico+Whiles

Achieving a low-vibration environment was a key driver for many of the research functions.

This presented a challenge in managing the environmental impact of the concrete required to supply the necessary inertia. Specifications incorporate significant cement replacement to reduce the embodied carbon content, typically 70 per cent replacement for the foundations and 50 per cent for the superstructure.

© Ramboll

Building form

Overview from the south east

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© Jestico+Whiles

Ray Dolby Centre

Views between the clean rooms and internal street

retention basins, ‘blue roofs’, and below-ground attenuation tanks.

for a post-completion rating of ‘excellent’.

Many complex systems, including close environmental control of laser optics laboratories and cleanrooms, innumerable sensors and variable flow controls, all require managing. A ‘soft landing’ involving several years of aftercare is essential to ensure design intent translates into reality. A key aspect will be a review of energy and water-metering data, which will be readily accessible to users so they are empowered to manage consumption.

Once commissioned, the building will facilitate pioneering research into a diverse spectrum of subjects, from the macroscale of the universe to the nanoscale of subatomic particles. The future may see exciting advances in the development of organic solar cells, super conductors, energy storage, light-emitting diodes, and supercomputing – developments that have the potential to transform our ability to live more comfortably within the limits set by our planet’s resources.

Proof of the pudding

There is an increasing demand for proof that the promised environmental sustainability standards are achieved. An interim BREEAM certification has provided reassurance that the project is on course

© Hoare Lea

in load, while provision has been made for future expansion if it proves necessary.

Another source of uncertainty is presented by our changing climate, in particular reducing flood risk. The project demonstrates the difficulty in finding space for rainwater attenuation, and forced the designers at Ramboll to draw on every weapon in the armoury, in this case: rain gardens,

With thanks to the following members of the design team who contributed to this article: Julian Dickens, Jestico + Whiles Richard Brimfield, Hoare Lea Isabel McTiffin, Ramboll

The borehole array serving the ground source heat pump

Cambridge Architecture 39

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Technical

Standard issue The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February 2020. Did you have your say? Nick Kendall explores the potential implications on design and construction of new homes

© iStock photovs

WORDS NICK KENDALL, PRINCIPAL BUILDING CONTROL SURVEYOR AT 3C SHARED SERVICES

We, as temporary inhabitants of this planet, leave a legacy for the next generation.

Our homes contribute 20 per cent of the total greenhouse gases. As an industry, we have a responsibility to design, build and regulate the next era of buildings.

2050 is the target year for net-zero greenhouse gases. The hope is to adapt our approach to house design and construction now; to ensure this can be achieved. The consultation is aimed at making up to 80 per cent savings in carbon emissions compared with Approved Document L 2013.

It seems the main thrust in achieving this is the use of ‘prime’ energy; that is, energy that is low carbon at source. 3C Building Control would prefer not to lose all the benefits of fabric efficiencies in homes that we have all worked hard to achieve, and we addressed this in our response.

Improvements in the fabric performance of

dwellings, coupled with greener energy, must surely be the way forward.

3C Building Control has always tried to help to close the performance gap – the gap between the intention of designers and the implementation on site.

The Future Homes Standard also seeks to address this. It is likely that 100 per cent air testing of dwellings will be an outcome of the consultation and this will enable us to measure and demonstrate quality, as the invisible issue of air leakage is a key factor. There is also a challenge to improve ventilation in dwellings alongside this aspiration.

What will the transition to the Future Homes Standard look like? In the past, transitional arrangements have allowed those not focused on change to avoid it. Now, the expectation is that, even if a development has started under ‘old rules’, when the standards are introduced, the next unit

to be built will have to meet the new standards.

We need to anticipate this, and, I suspect, it would be forward thinking to plan for this now, rather than try to adapt later.

In October last year, the consultation on Electric Vehicle Charging closed. We believe that this indicates a similar direction of thinking; looking to reduce carbon with proposals for initially all new homes to have vehicle-charging facilities and then subsequently expanding to include existing dwellings.

The government, in February this year, announced a ban on new fossil-fuel cars in 2035.

The future is nearly here!

The architectural challenge is to create attractive, desirable and buildable homes that people want to live in and can use effectively to have a positive impact on the environment.

Employing a professional and robust consultant team, including building control, can help with this.

Cambridge Architecture 41

Work in progress

MBA Ltd. is working on proposals for a new sustainable family home outside Cambridge.

The plan is massed over three floors, comprising three rhomboids pivoted around a central glass spiral staircase.

The site and ground floor plan are orientated along the east/ west axis with the two upper floors rotated to align with the street.

Extensive glazing is arranged to maximise solar gain and offer views of the surrounding countryside. The upper, more visible level is proposed to be encased in a green-wall system to echo the canopies of the surrounding trees and replace the ‘green’ skyline and habitat of the tree that once stood on the site.

Burwell Hall

© AC Architects Cambridge Ltd.

The Hall, Burwell, is a Grade II-listed property that had a 1960s single-storey extension containing outdated sanitary accommodation. The proposals encompass the demolition of that block and the construction of a new, part single-storey, part twostorey link and a two-storey wing. The new two-storey extension contains an office, new master bedroom and bathroom. The new glazed link is to feature charred-timber cladding and contains a dramatic new double-height staircase to separate the extension from the original hall.

42 Cambridge Architecture

Conservation of the Old Court Sundial BB&C Architects is delighted to be working on the Grade I-listed Queens’ College Sundial. Installed in 1642, the dial is formed of painted and gilded limestone, finished with a metal gnomon.

Over the years, the original stone face deteriorated, and in the mid20th century was resurfaced with an unsuitable hard cement render. This, in turn, is failing and risks further damage to the historic building fabric. Investigation techniques, starting with non-intrusive radar and x-rays, then core sampling, have given a detailed undertaking of the condition and make-up of the concealed substrate.

Repainted numerous times, the

© BB&C Architects

© Mart Barrass Architect

Green house plans

original designer’s intent has suffered from restoration drift as expert sign-writers, lacking knowledge of sundial science, have lost and corrupted details. Extensive research has been completed to ensure that the historically accurate astrological symbols and astronomically correct curves can be hand-painted to its original design, combining science with fine art.

Spotlight on projects by Chartered Practices

Stonemason’s studio

© Ashworth Parkes Architects

Ashworth Parkes Architects has recently won planning permission to convert a former stonemason’s studio and workshop into a family home, after winning an invited competition.

APA is currently drawing up the scheme in detail, before, hopefully, starting on site in the summer. The delicate task is to find a way to refurbish, renew, extend and renovate the property, satisfying or exceeding the current Building Regulations while endeavouring to retain the building's unique character and atmosphere.

Derelict outdoor pool

© Raydan Watkins Architects

Raydan Watkins Architects has been approached by a local primary school to look into the feasibility of recommissioning a derelict outdoor swimming pool – reinstating it for pupils’ swimming lessons and external community hire.

The proposal consists of a new pool enclosure with changing facilities, featuring a low-lying linear volume with a floating angular roofline, housing entrance and ancillary space to contrast with the solid top-lit backdrop of the pool enclosure.

The collaboration between an independent swimming school business, as main financier, and the school will unlock widespread benefits beyond stakeholders and pupils, with long-lasting and far-reaching positive social and economic impact.

Landbeach tithe barn

© Tithe Barn Trust

Work to renovate the thatched roof of a ‘rare and ancient’ Grade II-listed tithe barn has been completed.

The building in Landbeach has been dated to the 16th century, but it is thought its origins could be medieval.

Volunteers, including architect trustee Emma Naylor, are working to save and sympathetically restore the barn, which will eventually be used for weddings, dances, community events and school visits.

The Tithe Barn Trust received National Lottery Heritage Fund grants, as well as other local funding, to carry out urgent repairs to the timber frame and the thatched roof during the first phase of the renovation. Phase two of the project will involve fundraising for electricity, running water and toilets on the site. An event celebrating the completion of phase one was due to be held at the barn in March, but all of the trust's forthcoming events were postponed in light of the Covid-19 situation.

Cambridge Architecture 43

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