Spring/Summer 20 24
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Cambridge Architecture
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
4-5 News
CAA committee latest; Clare College River Wing; city architect is new president; Norwich church
7 Supporting change
CAA chair Patrick Usborne reflects on opportunities
8-11 Cambridge Urban Room
Seventeen teams have their say on how the space could work
12 Pick carefully
Susie Lober says it’s important to choose the right awards to enter
13-19 Regional stars
We take a look at winning projects from across the RIBA East area
20-25 Celebrating excellence
A showcase of success from the 2024 Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards
26 Building control
Nick Kendall explains the changes regarding building inspectors
27 Changing offices
Key alterations to change-of-use restrictions could create chances, suggests John Mason
28-29 Work in progress
A spotlight on projects by Chartered Practices
30 All change
Rules regulating the procurement of public sector contracts are about to change, Colin Jones explains
AC Architects Cambridge Ltd
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Cocoon Architects
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Dr. Richard Goy
EIKON Architecture and Design
Emma Adams Architect Feilden + Mawson
Frank Shaw
Freeland Rees Roberts
Haysom Ward Miller
Ingleton Wood
Any comments or for a copy of the magazine, contact editors@cambridgearchitects.org
EDITORS David Adams, Adam Griffiths, Susie Lober, Susie Newman
ADVERTISEMENT SALES Marie Luise Critchley-Waring (advertising@cambridgearchitects.org)
Published by CPL One www.cplone.co.uk
CA87 was made possible by generous grants from the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry and the RIBA Local Initiative Fund
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Tereyn Architects
Welcome to CA87! This edition is all about celebrating the fine work that is being produced around the region.
As spring ’24 arrived, so did the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, and the RIBA East Awards. We showcase the best projects across a range of different sectors, many including local architects and design consultants.
In our other features, the CAA’s Chair, Patrick Usborne, reflects on the CAA’s activities and focus; and we look at the winner and runnersup of the CAA’s Urban Room competition.
Meanwhile, Susie Lober discusses the structure of a good award submission, and the importance of including sustainability data; Colin Jones, of HCR Law, explains the changing landscape of public procurement; and Nick Kendall, from LABC, gives a valuable update on the latest regulations affecting Building Inspectors.
Elsewhere, John Mason of Carter Jonas explains the latest key changes to National Planning Policy, in this case Permitted Development Rights and the changes affecting Office to Residential Conversions (Class MA).
Lastly, we look at some of the exciting work that local practitioners are developing, in our regular Work In Progress feature.
The CAA held its AGM on 6 March and we’re pleased to show the new faces on the committee.
The full committee is:
Usborne 2 Secretary – Quratulain Hafeez 3 Treasurer – Sree Ramchander 4 Student Rep – Margaux Cooper 5 Communications – Risa Nagasaki 6 Events Coordinator – Sarah Shaw
7 Events Support – Daniel Lee
The editors
8 Heritage Champion – Patricia Forero-Senior 9 Outreach Coordinator – Eliza Papoutsi 10 Climate Champion – Alice Hamlin 11 Cambridge Room – Ze’ev Feigis
There were some big changes: after more than a decade of being the CAA’s Treasurer, Kelly O’Doherty stepped down and handed over the financial keys to Sree Ramchander, marking another new chapter in the CAA’s history; Margaux Cooper joined the committee as the student representative from the University of Cambridge architecture department; Patricia Forero-Senior became our new Heritage Champion; Sarah Shaw took on the Events Coordinator role, supported by Daniel Lee; Eliza Papoutsi rejoined the committee as Outreach Coordinator. Lastly, David Adams stepped down as co-editor after 10 years, and Adam Griffiths joined the editorial team for Cambridge Architecture 1 Chair –
12 Gazette Advertising – Marie-Luise Critchley-Waring 13 Gazette Editor – Susie Lober
Members of our editorial team managed to make it to the press viewing of the new River Wing at Clare College, the recently completed design by Witherford Watson Mann and Barnes Construction. The project was supported by Smith and Wallwork, Max Fordham, Liz Lake Associates, The Fire Surgery and Turley. It manages to insert a fantastic new daylit space into a complex and narrow site, requiring ingenuity and artistry in equal measure. The architect said: “The River Wing is the first significant new construction at Grade I-listed Clare College Old Court since the 1780s. As well as enhancing physical accessibility, the project responds to the College’s emphasis on community and inclusivity. The café is a space without hierarchy, shared by all parts of the College.”
Feilden+Mawson celebrated the opening of a new £7.5m church and community facility in Norwich on 2 March 2024. F+M won the commission to design Soul Church following a national design competition in 2017. The building provides a large, 1,250-seater auditorium and facilities for learning, youth, respite, office space, and a drop-in work hub. It offers a café and gathering spaces, including a memorial garden, public-use play barn, and nursery.
The CAA is pleased to congratulate Ashley Courtney, a sole practitioner in Cambridge, on becoming the 20232024 President of The Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association (EASA), a learned society, founded in 1872. The association offers its accumulated knowledge and expertise to English Heritage, diocesan and other church authorities, and societies with similar interests. It seeks to represent its members in the furtherance of its ideals of scholarship, high standards and good practice.
ARCSOC Dept of Architecture Exhibition 2024
Date and time: 4-7 July 2024, 6-9pm
Location: Kettles Yard, Castle Street Cambridge CB3 0AQ
CFCI Talk: Whittle Laboratory
Date and time: 17 June, 6-8pm
Location: Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge
CFCI Chair’s Garden Party
Date and time: 3 July 2024, 5.30-8pm
Location: Newnham College, Cambridge
CFCI Walking Tour – Cambridge Landscapes
Date and time: TBC
Check the CFCI events page for details
CFCI Talk: AI in Construction
Date: 16 September
Check the CFCI events page for details
“Enriching our neighbourhoods needs to at the grass-roots level”
At the CAA's Council-led Housing Seminar, we were treated to impassioned discussion on the need for better housing, drawing on great examples from both Cambridge and the London Borough of Hackney. Patrick Usborne, Chair of the CAA, reflects on the opportunities for Cambridge
WORDS PATRICK USBORNE, CAA CHAIRAfew months ago, I was taken aback by the diversity and breadth of local community groups present during a meeting for our new urban room for Cambridge. The meeting reminded me not only of how passionate Cambridge community groups are, but also the importance of bringing everyone together for the greater good of the city. The Cambridge Room will help achieve just this, bringing together a rich tapestry of different groups and individuals to foster debate and make the city a better place to live, work and visit. The Cambridge Room is currently finding a home, but the intention is to move further afield with ‘pop-up’ events and reach out to local communities within and beyond Cambridge.
The importance of the Cambridge Room was evident at a recent event held by the Cambridge Association of Architects (CAA) at Mill Road Community Centre. It brought together Cambridge City Council and the London Borough of Hackney to explore the benefits of and challenges with the delivery of council-led housing. The day was fascinating for the different approaches taken by each local authority and how the architects who spoke at the event described their design responses. Particularly evident was the opportunity that council-led housing has for participatory community-led design.
Working with Hackney, Antje Saunders, of Allies and Morrison, gave a wonderful example of continual engagement with the local community to transform an estate. Architects, councils and other consultants will always come with predetermined design approaches based on their experience. With each site clearly unique, the experts to inform any project brief and influence the design are, undoubtedly, the residents who have lived and worked there. Continual engagement will come with challenges, not least trying to please everyone. However, community-led design has demonstrated the creation of more vibrant and resilient communities.
Cambridge and the surrounding area face great pressures: as Ben Binns, from Cambridge City Council, outlined during the council-led event, we have 2,700 residents in need of housing now. Coupled with this, we are being pressured by ministers to grow Cambridge into the new Silicon Fen of Europe, with a four-fold increase in the number of homes that exist today. Navigating a path through these multiple and complex pressures to ensure Cambridge remains a vibrant city requires us all to come together and have agency in the way the city is shaped.
The CAA is ideally positioned to foster meaningful engagement across the community to achieve exceptional design quality within any development. At our heart is the CAA Committee, which has grown to 15, with two new positions created at our most recent AGM held in March: Student Rep, and Heritage Champion. Unquestionably, the diversity and enthusiasm in the committee reflects the wider CAA membership. With the events we host and communication we deliver – such as Cambridge Architecture – we hope, with your continual engagement, feedback and support, that the CAA remains relevant and at the forefront of architectural debate, to help shape the future of our city.
CAA,
“Cambridge and the surrounding area face great pressures… we have 2,700 residents in need of housing now”
The new space will be created for people to come together and help create a future for their local area
The CAA teamed up with the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge City Council and South Cambs District Council to run a competition to design Cambridge’s version, and it attracted unprecedented attention.
The term ‘urban room’ was coined 10 years ago by Sir Terry Farrell in a national review of architecture and the built environment commissioned by the government (see https://farrellreview. co.uk). It suggested that “every town and city without an architecture and built environment centre should have an ‘urban room’ where the past, present and future of that place can be inspected”.
We asked members to help us imagine what the Cambridge Room – which is being set up as a charity – could include.
The competition ran from October to the end of December 2023 and attracted 17 wonderfully creative entries from far and wide, including from students, academic staff, aspiring and practising architects from Cambridge, and others who teamed up with local professionals.
The judging panel was really impressed with the ingenuity and effort all participants put into their work and, decided on a winner, a runner-up, and four commended submissions.
The winner will receive a £500 prize honorarium and help to curate events in the Cambridge Room.
The judging panel:
Flora Samuel, head of the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge
Tumi Hawkins, South Cambs lead cabinet member for planning
Katie Thornburrow, Cambridge City Council executive councillor for planning, building control and infrastructure
Peter Studdert, Independent town planner and former director of planning at Cambridge City Council
Ze’ev Feigis, architect and Cambridge Association of Architects committee member
Relevant websites:
● www.cambridgearchitects.org/resources/cambridge-room
● www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/urban-room-cambridge
● urbanroomsnetwork.org
Full list of entries:
1. Adel Hussein
2. Eliza Papoutsi
3. LDA Design (commended)
4. Bella Feurst
5. Gabi Watkins
6. Kelly MacKinnon, Laura McClorey and Jess Mulvey (commended)
7. Laura Mucciolo
8. Torsten Sherwood
9. Alex Giarlis, Liam Cooke, Brgs Lenz – Neubau (runner-up)
10. Alejandro de Miguel Solano
11. Nabeela Ameen
12. Risa Nagasaki and James Cutting
13. Victoria Fabron, Eric Martin, Pawel Pietkun, Luciano Ingenito – Allies and Morrison (winner)
14. Sustainable Design Group, University of Cambridge – Jiayu Pan, Aden Kumary, Maoran Sun, Haiwei Li, Andrés Zúñiga-González, Sonam Choden, Dr Ronita Bardhan
15. Simon Bumstead – Studio Snaap (commended)
16. William Lucas
17. Kyriaki Kasabalis, Darius Woo – Kasawoo – with David Valinsky (commended)
“The room is the beginning of architecture” Louis Kahn, The Room, the Street, and Human Agreement, 1971
winning entry:
Judging panel comments: “This is a beautiful, clear and accurate proposal for a versatile kit of parts, which can furnish a permanent room for discussion, but can also be carried between different locations for peripheral or pop-up events. The bright and colourful illustrations acknowledge Cambridge’s urban – rural character and landscapes in an optimistic way which reflects the room’s purpose. The logo is open, inviting and distinctive. It plainly tells the story of the room as a space for conversation and the memory of the place.”
Runner-up:
Alex Giarlis, Liam Cooke and Brgs Lenz of NeubauJudging panel comments:
“A striking and sophisticated submission, suggesting a series of interventions – from objects to landscape sized events – which the room can operate in. The room as a thinking framework is illustrated at all scales, and the proposal provokes discussion about the boundaries of its programme. The judges were impressed by the quality of the presentation from a small local practice.”
Stuart Bremner (Tel: 07711 412583) Tim Harwood (Tel: 07749 250953)
Commended: Kyriaki Kasabalis, Darius Woo (Kasawoo) with David Valinsky
The ‘Cambridge Room on Wheels’ submission draws on highly dynamic spatial nodes that permeate our static built environment such as ice-cream trucks and market stalls. Kasawoo has created a mobile installation the size of a standard-sized trailer, capable of being rapidly deployed across the Greater Cambridge area.
Commended: LDA Design (Cambridge)
LDA’s submission explored a powerful open space to draw in users. Creating a room with no threshold, they have beautifully employed a language of flora facilitated by a transient demountable cube to encourage the sharing of ideas within the urban room. As the cube moves across the city and beyond, a ring of trees left behind can act as a green focal point for the community that remains.
Commended: Simon Bumstead of Studio Snaap
Studio Snaap took inspiration from the iconic Cambridge punt to create an urban room capable of occupying the waterways. With a careful nod to the British garden shed, this proposal represents a highly adaptable space created by multiple hatches, openings, and doors.
Commended: Kelly MacKinnon, Laura McClorey and Jess Mulvey
Proposing the re-coding of a historic bank to an urban hub dealing with social capital rather than monitory. Facilitated by a fully accessible communicycle to act as an outreach point, the submission can utilise the spatial advantages of having both a fixed and transient element to increase the reach of the Urban Room.
Not all awards are equal – but choose well and they can elevate your practice profile and create new opportunities
It seems there is an award for everything, from the best door handle to the Pritzker Prize. So how do you go about choosing the right award to enter? Most, although not all, have a cost attached and it’s best to be selective. Which award is worth the headache of ‘image upload failure’ at 11.59pm?
When considering the validity of an award, ask:
1. What is the quality of previous winners?
2. Is this just a vanity award available to purchase?
3. Who are the judges and do they visit shortlisted buildings?
4. Are drawings, as well as photos, considered?
5. How is the client viewpoint taken into consideration?
6. What sustainability credentials are assessed?
There has been a welcome shift in recent years towards awards taking sustainability more seriously. The RIBA regional awards, for instance, must include a year’s worth of in-occupancy data and calculations for embodied carbon. RIBA Award winners are expected to meet statutory targets in achieving sustainable outcomes, and measure and verify how they perform.
In 2022, Architecture Today launched a new awards programme to recognise buildings that have stood the test of time. It aims to contribute to the shared learning that is essential if we are to bring about the step change in performance that the industry desperately needs.
The Architects’ Journal Retrofit awards have been running for almost 15 years and continue to grow in popularity. This year, for the first time, it is introducing a live judging element of peer review for three categories, which will, hopefully, add to the rigour and transparency of the awarding process.
While peer review can be validating, even the nomination process can create an opportunity for self-reflection and continuous improvement.
UK Architects Declare and Architecture Today have also recently launched the Regenerative Architecture Index, which sets out to benchmark practices’ progress towards regenerative practice and projects. It recognises the need for a built environment that isn’t merely reducing its negative
for everything from a bandstand to a ruin, requires no data on environmental performance of a building.
“These accolades inspire us to push boundaries and lead the way towards a thriving planet and society”
impacts, but also having positive impacts for today and the long term.
Beware of awards that claim to recognise sustainability without any specific criteria to assess it. The Green Apple Awards claim to have rewarded and promoted environmental best practice since 1994. However, the application for a ‘Beautiful Building Award’ in 2024, which includes categories
A 200-word ‘sustainability’ footnote to an award entry is not enough. Judges receive sustainable credentials and energy-use data of varying quality –sometimes because of the lack of information being available; sometimes because of a lack of knowledge on how to measure. Demonstrating an understanding of how to measure sustainability could really make your award submission stand out. LETI publications, which are free to download from its website, are a useful starting point. You can also refer to the CIBSE energy assessment and reporting method (TM22), and the RIBA post-occupancy evaluation primer.
Growing recognition of sustainability in awards is a beacon of hope, signalling a crucial shift towards a greener future. Let’s not just celebrate these achievements, but see them as calls to action, reminding us of the courage needed to innovate and challenge norms for sustainability. These accolades inspire us to push boundaries and lead the way towards a thriving planet and society.
As announced earlier this year, 17 buildings, ranging from a freestanding music pavilion to the reinvention of a 17th-century grain warehouse, were shortlisted for the 2024 RIBA East Awards. Following building visits in the spring by the RIBA East regional jury, we are pleased to share the winning projects, revealed at the Tewinbury Farm, Welwyn, on Thursday 16 May.
RIBA East Jury Chair Gavin Henderson, principal director of Stanton
Williams Architects, said: “The diverse range of projects shortlisted this year reflects the breadth of architectural talent and the ambition of clients working across the region.
“It is particularly encouraging to see schemes that embrace high levels of sustainability, while also focusing on enhancing the experience and wellbeing of their occupants. These are projects that respond with ingenuity to contemporary
challenges and their unique contexts, creating characterful places of lasting value.”
These regional award winners will also be considered for a highly coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence. The results will be announced later this summer, with a selection of the national winners comprising the shortlist for the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year, announced in October.
Coulson Building Group
Progress House, Rowles Way
Swavesey, Cambridge, CB24 4UG
Tel: (01223) 423 800
Email: enquiries@coulson.co.uk
Website: www.coulson.co.uk
CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS QUANTITY SURVEYORS
Nestled on the banks of the River Cam, Darwin College is a unique assembly of 18th and 19th-century domestic architecture, distinguished 20th-century collegiate buildings, and riverside landscape. John Bradfield Court is the most recent addition to this rich collage of buildings. The multipurpose space is a small, but architecturally ambitious intervention. The unusual, steeply pitched roof, reminiscent of the nearby maltings, gives the building a strong and distinctive presence within its sensitive historical location. The restoration of the Old Granary has achieved a subtle and intelligent transformation. Passive strategies have been used wherever possible, including a fabric-first approach to the new building and enhancement of the performance of the historic building. This is coupled with the use of heat-recovery and low-carbon technologies, including a ground source heat pump.
This modest new-build house, located in a central Cambridge conservation area, displays remarkable ingenuity in the way it uses its compact site to create an intimate and intriguing home. The house provides accommodation for a couple, together with an apartment for their adult daughter. It has the character almost of a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle and a capacity to surprise as spaces unfold and are revealed, often using carefully designed joinery to define thresholds and entrances. It demonstrates the value that architects can bring to unlocking the potential of constrained sites and responding to the aspirations and specific requirements of their clients.
The Little Big House is a unique home and the result of genuine engagement between the architect and the client. The fluid connection of interior and exterior, and the changing qualities of daylight within the interior spaces, deliver a place of calm and beauty that would be admirable in any design. What is remarkable here is the way the project achieves this while effortlessly incorporating the specific needs of a client who, following an accident, has been paralysed from the shoulders down. Full accessibility, the housing of medical equipment, and the need for live-in care have been accommodated, with no impact on the character of the home as a place to live.
Creek Cabin is a low-environmental impact home that celebrates its rural Suffolk setting. It is a lifetime home for a couple, with additional space for their children and grandchildren. The setting is exceptional, but also challenging from a planning perspective: it is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest and within a flood-risk zone. A particular triumph is the creation of a highly sustainable building to Passivhaus standards, very well insulated and with careful management of solar gain, that also offers a sense of openness to the landscape through extensive glazing. The jury was utterly beguiled by the way the client and the architects had responded to these challenges to create a unique and idiosyncratic home.
Gainsborough’s House Museum, by ZMMA Regional Building of the Year, Regional Conservation Award
This transformative project has seen a significant regional and national museum emerge from the adaptation of what was a small, local resource. The focus of the museum is the historic home of 18th-century artist Thomas Gainsborough, in Sudbury, Suffolk. Not only has the project conserved this Grade I-listed house, but it has also provided exhibition galleries and supporting facilities through a combination of adjacent historical buildings and new structures. The architects have achieved all this with great ingenuity and a sensitivity to detail and materials selection, which is all the more remarkable given the relatively constrained budget for such an extensive and complex programme.
Bluebird is a project that brought a sense of joy to all members of the jury. This was coupled with deep admiration for the ambition and perseverance of a client and architect delivering a project of real social value, to the highest levels of sustainability and within the constraints of a limited budget. The scheme, for Southend-on-Sea charity HARP (Homeless Action Resource Project), provides 50 rooms for homeless people, together with communal facilities, as a step towards them returning to independent living. Its main new-build element is Passivhauscertified – a first for the client, architect and contractor. For its residents, it has created a place of quiet dignity, joyfulness, and charm.
Beechwood Village, part of a wider masterplan extension for Basildon, is noteworthy as an exemplar for the design and delivery of housing within a context of a low-rise suburban development. While deceptively familiar in its scale and use of materials, it breaks the mould by delivering much higher densities than typical in surrounding developments, and attaining high levels of quality and sustainability through offsite modular construction. Importantly, it also allows each owner to customise the design of their home, creating an unusual level of variety. The result is an environment with a real sense of place.
The WongAvery Gallery is a unique project, built in a highly sensitive historic location and to a very specific and unusual brief. Surrounded by Grade I and Grade II-listed buildings within an existing court at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, it provides a dedicated music practice and performance space. It also houses environmentally sensitive musical instruments and the college’s music library. This small, single-space building responds to its challenging context and technically demanding brief with exceptional rigour. The technical challenges are addressed as an integral part of the architectural language: the material properties of Portland stone define the building’s character, as both structure and enclosure, but are also used to control acoustic reverberation and moderate temperature and humidity. Most importantly, the architects have created a space of calm, contemplative enjoyment, for performers and audiences alike.
What architects Feilden Fowles have captured so well in the new Dining Hall is a compelling vision of what the new college could be, speaking to the past, present and future of this unusual institution. Open to the landscape rather than enclosed, light-filled rather than dark, it is suggestive of the egalitarian, diverse community the college seeks to build, and has become the focal point in the college’s social and cultural life. The design and construction of the façades is an architectural tour de force.
E:info@afpconsult.co.uk
The Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (GCSPS) and the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry (CFCI) presented the winners of the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2024, at a ceremony hosted by the CFCI in The Auditorium, Pembroke College, Cambridge, in March.
The awards celebrate the best construction projects completed in Greater Cambridge, including new buildings and conservation, alterations or extensions of existing buildings. Submissions were welcomed from the whole of the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Area, including the city and South Cambridgeshire district.
The judges visited shortlisted projects in early February, to examine the submitted buildings in greater detail and experience the spaces first hand. The judging criteria included the context and brief for the building, the design solution adopted, the quality and difficulty of the construction, and the craftsmanship displayed. Accessibility and the creation of an inclusive environment were also vital considerations.
Each scheme was expected to address environmental concerns, including energy performance. Where possible, the projects were also expected to contribute to the natural environment, both on the building and in the landscape around it.
There were also three ‘People Award’ categories for those working in the construction industry and related professions. The
Winner: Bourn Mill
For the extraordinary complexity, originality and resourcefulness of the team, including volunteers, expert advisers and contractors, in carrying out this unique and highly successful restoration project.
Client: Cambridge Past, Present and Future
Architect: Tim Buxbaum Architect
Structural engineer: The Morton Partnership
Millwright: MillBill (Bill Griffiths)
Main contractor: Bakers of Danbury
Specialist scaffolder: Pro-Flat
Quantity surveyor: Philip Pank & Partners
Heritage advice: Historic England and Cambridgeshire Windmills Consultancy
Engagement: Cambridgeshire ACRE
Project team support: Dedicated volunteers from the local community
awards recognise those who have excelled in their fields in the design and construction industry, and the winners were:
● Max Payne, Apprentice of the Year
● Freya Williams, Young Professional of the Year (winner)
● Kevin Kakembo, Young Professional of the Year (commended)
● Matt Varey, Site Manager of the Year (winner)
● Richard Coates, Site Manager of the Year (commended)
The judging panel was chaired by Dame Fiona Reynolds, former master of Emmanuel College and former director-general of the National Trust, and the submission and judging processes were jointly facilitated by the GCSPS and CFCI volunteer trustees.
Dame Fiona said: “This was a terrific year for the awards; the judges enjoyed and were challenged by the diversity, complexity and ambition of many of the projects we saw. Over the years, we have specifically encouraged clients and contractors to pay more attention to important emerging issues, whether carbon, biodiversity, community engagement or accessibility.
“If there is a lesson from this year, it is that the best projects take all of these issues really seriously, and the very best have learned to integrate them seamlessly, so that they no longer feel unusual. They have become embedded in the way we do things and the results of that are often spectacular.”
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, Cllr Dr Tumi Hawkins, said: “In celebrating the winners of the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2024, we honour not just the structures themselves, but the dedication, innovation and meticulous craftsmanship that have shaped our region’s built environment. From the intricate designs to the sustainable practices, each project reflects a commitment to excellence.”
Winner: Barnes Construction for Clare, St John’s College and Dove Court
The Clare and St John’s College projects were both extremely complex and intricate, carried out within delicate Grade 1-listed environments and requiring great delicacy in bringing in materials, equipment and people, as well as enabling normal college life to continue throughout. Both projects were exceptional and carried out to an exemplary standard.
Highly commended: SDC for the TTP building
TTP is a complex building for which many technical challenges had to be overcome. What struck the judges was the contractor’s care and attention to the details and finishing while delivering the core brief.
Winner: St John’s College new Buttery
The project catalysed the decarbonisation of a difficult Grade 1-listed area of the college, creating an expertly engineered roof that enhances acoustics, is visually striking and has low embodied carbon. The wellintegrated heat pump and heat-recovery ventilation, inserted into difficult spaces, helps minimise clutter for an uplifting and inviting series of communal spaces.
Architect: MCW
Project manager: Turner & Townsend
Cost consultant: Faithful+Gould
Conservation architect: Purcell
Structural engineer: Smith and Wallwork Engineers
Services engineer: KJ Tait Engineers
Acoustic: Ramboll
Planning consultant: Turley
Fire: Affinity Fire Engineers
Main contractor: Barnes Construction
Highly commended: Stephen Taylor Court
A very impressive scheme with ultra-low embodied carbon and an impressive energy use intensity. It is reassuring to see environmental briefs for college accommodation buildings continue to push boundaries and the engineering outcomes deliver against them.
Winner: Turing Locke, Hotel Eddington
An ambitious and innovative project for a new hotel complex at Eddington that has placed a garden and generous planting scheme at the heart of its operation. It has created attractive, accessible public spaces of different characters, and provided a beautiful green thoroughfare and courtyard. Accessibility is designed into the hotel’s core operation, and the high-quality implementation and maintenance will keep the scheme looking and feeling beautiful
Client: SACO Property Group
Landscape architect: Robert Myers Associates
Architect: dRMM
Project manager/cost consultant: Gardiner & Theobald
Planning consultant: Aecom
Building control, fire engineer, CDM: Bureau Veritas
Services: Applied Energy
Structural engineer: Manhire Associates
Transport consultant: Peter Brett Associates
Contractor: Gilbert Ash
Highly commended: Cranmer Road, King’s College
There was a strong focus on examining, retaining and enhancing soil quality, and the college gardeners, as well as residents, are enthusiastic about the garden.
Winner: St Mary’s School Lab
A really lovely and impressive project. The school’s determination to re-use the old base and structure of its derelict greenhouse is commendable, and it has done so very successfully. Internally, the fit out to high standards for STEM teaching has worked brilliantly. The interior is warm and simple, using space cleverly, and revealing the architecture and technology: for example, the original winding gear is used to manage ventilation. The greenhouse has been turned into a learning tool and its story has been made into a booklet for children of all ages. Careful attention has been given to environmental design: lots of daylight, with glare and solar gains managed, and clerestory vents in keeping with the greenhouse character. The building has been ‘upcycled’ and will be an asset for years to come.
Client: St Mary’s School, Cambridge Architect: NEUBAU
Structural engineer: Simple Works
Contractor: M G Monk & Son
Highly commended: Bourn Windmill
A truly remarkable project, and an object lesson in what love and expertise can achieve. A deeply impressive historic restoration, with community involvement, to restore a working mill.
Winner: Clare College Old Court and River Café
The results of this project are both understated and spectacular, and the engineering outcome a marvel.
Client: Clare College, Cambridge
Architects: Witherford Watson Mann Architects
Project manager/cost consultant: Henry Riley
Structural engineers: Smith and Wallwork
Services and acoustic engineers: Max Fordham
Landscape architects: Liz Lake Associates
Fire consultants: The Fire Surgery
Planning consultant: Turley
Main contractor: Barnes Construction
Timber frame: Constructional Timber
Highly commended: St John’s new buttery/cafe
The scale and complexity of this project impressed.
Winner: TTP building, Melbourn
A stunning company headquarters and lab project that is a benchmark for what can be achieved in a highly competitive research and development market.
Client: TTP
Architect/interior designer: Sheppard Robson
Landscape architect: Spacehub/CSA Environmental Planning consultant: Savills
Structural engineer: AKT II
M&E consultant: Aecom/CPW
Project manager: Bidwells
Quantity surveyor: Gleeds
Principal designer: ORSA
Contractor: SDC
Highly commended: Dovehouse Court, Girton
A 15-home, fully Passivhaus-certified development for independent-living over-55s with close connections to the village who are in need.
Winner: Bailey’s Studios, Eden Street
A remarkable transformation of a former workshop belonging to well-known local stonemason Keith Bailey. There is a Japanese flavour to the conversion, including a space-saving sunken bath. The tiny floor area has been creatively reworked and extended to provide two living spaces, and an extraordinary amount of storage space has been worked in. The ingenious reordering of space and light provides two kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, plus a roof terrace. A split staircase gives access to a second floor in the main apartment. The technical challenges of integrating a low-energy approach into this constrained site included the MVHR threaded through the slender structure, the integrated external blinds for heatwave mitigation, and the inaudible air source heat pump sharing the external amenity space in close proximity to neighbours.
Ashworth Parkes Architects
Cambridge Architectural Research RM Construction
There have been seismic shifts in the building industry since the introduction of the BSA 2022 and the secondary legislation in 2023. Nick Kendall, learning and development specialist at LABC, explains the current building control situation and what it means
On 14 March, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) announced an extension of the transitional arrangements for the registration of building control inspectors in England. The deadline, originally 6 April 2024, is now 6 July.
The registration system was introduced on 1 October 2023 as part of the new oversight regime for building control bodies and inspectors.
The new regulations require individuals to register as building inspectors – now known as Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) – with the BSR. They must renew this registration every four years and meet the requirements set by the BSR, which includes having their competence validated in line with the Building Inspector Competence Framework (BICoF).
It is important that we make a clear distinction between the registration process and validation of competence. Registration of the profession is directly with the BSR, whereas competence validation is through one of three independent scheme providers – the Building Safety Competence Foundation (BSCF), the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) or Total Training. In order to practise as an RBI, inspectors must have successfully completed both elements.
While there has been some confusion around what the deadline extension means for inspectors, one thing has been made incredibly
clear: building control professionals cannot operate in any capacity if they are not registered with the BSR as at least a Class 1 RBI and must be going through the validation process with one of the three independent assessment bodies.
There is also an additional requirement; building control professionals must have registered with the BSR by the original deadline to have their registration temporarily extended.
The BSR has stated that: “Professionals who are not registered by 6 April will not benefit from the extension period and will not be able to continue to work on regulated building control activities.”
As a Class 1 RBI, a surveyor can only work
under supervision. Once they have had their competence validated, they can upgrade their registration to Class 2 or 3, and 4, if applicable.
The BSR has made it very clear that there will be no further extensions, and here at LABC, we are working with that in mind. The extension allows the building control profession to operate as normal while they complete their competence assessment while maintaining a much-needed sense of urgency to get their validation assessments done. It will also minimise the impact on local authority building control teams and the wider construction industry. www.labc.co.uk
Recent changes to the NPPF have perhaps slipped under the radar, such as those relating to change of use (in particular Class MA). Key alterations to the requirements and restrictions could create opportunities, suggests John Mason, of Carter Jonas
WORDS JOHN MASONIf one thing remains a certainty in today’s fastmoving political climate, it is that amendments to England’s planning system can be expected at least every quarter. The past six months have seen the publication of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), increases to application fees, imposition of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain and changes to Permitted Development rights. Cambridge has also seen the publication of The Case for Cambridge setting out the government’s growth ambitions, further details on the possible Development Corporation, and a long-awaited statement on how to address water scarcity.
One of the notable recent changes in legislation is to Class MA of the Town and Country Permitted Development Order, which allows for conversion of commercial, business and service buildings (within Use Class E) to residential use. The legislation first came into force in 2021 and was designed to regenerate and repopulate high streets. From 5 March 2024, the regulations have been loosened; commercial properties now no longer need to be
vacant for three months prior to the application for Prior Approval, and there is no upper limit on the amount of floorspace that can be converted to residential use. This change is designed to further boost the supply of homes through regeneration of under-used commercial buildings. Caveats do still apply; the building cannot be listed or within any protected landscape. A developer must submit a Prior Approval application to change the use, and proposals must have suitable natural light and accord with fire risk legislation and nationally described space standards.
Alongside these changes to Class MA, the government published the long-awaited updates to the NPPF in December 2023 following a year-long consultation. The biggest headlines were on the assessment of housing need. Local authorities no longer need to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land (if their local plan is less than five years old), and there are new flexibilities on how housing need should be assessed.
The NPPF changes encourage local authorities
to support small sites to come forward for community-led development for housing, including on rural exception sites that may not otherwise be supported, and should support self- and custombuild sites (paragraph 70b). Significant uplifts in residential density may however be inappropriate if it would result in developments “wholly out of character with the existing area” (paragraph 130).
Design guides/codes should be prepared in accordance with the principles set out in the National Design Guide, which will give clarity about design expectations (paragraph 133). Interestingly, the words “beauty” and “beautiful” now feature regularly in the NPPF update. Planning conditions are also encouraged to require clear and accurate details of a scheme’s design and materials, aiming to provide greater certainty for those implementing a planning permission (paragraph 140).
There is a nod to environmental concerns as local authorities should give “significant weight to the need to support energy efficiency and low carbon heating improvements to existing buildings”, but should balance this with heritage protection where relevant (paragraph 164).
“The legislation first came into force in 2021 and was designed to regenerate and repopulate high streets”
Paper Architecture
Paper Architecture is working on several projects that aim to enhance personal mobility and this EV charging hub, in Hertfordshire, is one part of a vision for sustainable transportation. It is designed to achieve net-zero operational CO2e emissions and features a timber-frame structure with reclaimed cladding. The hub targets Passivhaus fabric standards, and the modular design of the frame allows for dismantling at its end of life.
Zero-emission vehicle adoption is gathering pace and designing for calmness should be integral to the infrastructure. Providing healthy, relaxing dwell spaces gives drivers a brief interlude in potentially stressful journeys.
MCW Architects
MCW Architects is designing a new research and development campus in Shepreth, for GCR Camprop. The initial phase, currently on site, involves creatively repurposing an existing light-industrial building to provide flexible multi-tenanted laboratory space. This building, targeting BREEAM Outstanding, will undergo significant renovations, including fabric upgrades and the integration of renewables. In a second phase, recently submitted for planning consent, a new building will provide an additional 2,150m2 of laboratory space for up to six tenants. The buildings are supported by comprehensive landscape proposals to support enhancement of biodiversity and improve the campus’s setting within the village context.
The Architect Studio
The Architect Studio is undertaking consolidation work to the ruins of an orangery. Warley Place Nature Reserve, in Brentwood, has presented unique challenges, given the site's abundant biodiversity and protected flora and fauna. The Orangery is the only remnant of an 18th-century mansion demolished after World War II. Cordoned off for more than a decade because of its dilapidated condition, conservation and consolidation efforts promise to revive it for public access once more.
Freeland Rees Roberts
Grade II* listed St Mary’s Church, Wimbotsham, suffered a devastating fire, with complete loss of the nave and tower roofs, windows and floors. This offers an opportunity to reinstate lost fabric to perform much better thermally, and Freehand Rees Roberts is helping the client to achieve the Church of England ‘Net Zero Carbon by 2030’ target. New insulated floors and roof, internal insulation to walls and secondary double glazing are proposed, as is an air source heat pump and integrated roof PV panels. New building elements include a west gallery, vestry and single-storey extension with kitchen, WCs and gathering space. A planning application is submitted.
EIKON Architects
Permission has been granted for a ground-floor and first-floor extension to a newly built house, less than two months after the planning application was submitted. The homeowners bought the property a couple of years ago, but soon realised it didn’t provide sufficient space for their expanding family.
EIKON proposed extending the ground floor to create an open-plan kitchen, dining area and family room, while also increasing the space on the first floor to accommodate a home office or study.
The exterior design remains faithful to the original aesthetic of the house, using similar materials and colours to ensure a seamless integration with the existing structure. Floor-to-ceiling glazing and large skylights allow increased natural light throughout the interior.
Owers Warwick Architects
Owers Warwick Architects is on site in Foxton, with Phase 2 of the development at Burlington Press.
During Phase 1, the team took care to repurpose the historic press buildings, retaining and upgrading the existing fabric. The plans for Phase 2 include replacing existing 1970s industrial sheds with new, state-of-the-art laboratories and offices to serve the vibrant Cambridge life sciences market.
The new building comprises a brick-and-glass base with a timber first floor. The entrance atrium, which helps break up some of the building mass, is a connection between the new public square and the rural views beyond. Set into a beautifully designed landscape, the building will include a new community café, cycle centre, and an enhanced environment for Foxton’s war memorial.
Mole Architects
Fanshawe Road is a scheme for Cambridge Investment Partnership, delivering 84 homes, comprising 45 council homes and 39 private houses. The existing 1950s purpose-built apartments are in a poor structural state. The two protected open spaces that surround the existing building are being combined to create a new green route to access Coleridge Recreation Ground, and will be publicly accessible. The layered brickwork and detailing was inspired by the surrounding interwar housing with its light-coloured render over a red-brick plinth.
While there has been significant attention paid to building safety in recent years, there are other changes afoot: the rules that regulate procurement of the annual estimated £300bn+ of public contracts are about to change. Colin Jones, of HCR Law, explains the new regime
WORDS COLIN JONES, HCR LAWThe new Procurement Act became law in October 2023, although, to give everyone –including a hard-pressed public sector, the contracting authorities – time to get up to speed, implementation is not proposed to take place until October 2024.
The rules regulating public contracts have long been based on the European Union public procurement regime (the ‘OJEU rules’). Post-Brexit, the government has promoted a less-restrictive and simpler system, although, in practice, the laws that apply are constrained by the UK being a signatory to international conventions regarding expectations when it comes to contracting by the public sector.
While we await secondary legislation for the detail of how it is to work, what does the new Act provide for?
One set of rules:
The new Act consolidates the different procurement rules that applied between, say, defence procurement and more general public contracting.
Language:
While many of the old concepts will be familiar, there is a move away from the previous EU language and terms.
Procurement objectives:
When issuing tenders, contracting authorities must have regard for the importance of (a) delivering value for money; (b) maximising public benefit; (c) sharing information for the purpose of allowing suppliers and others to understand the authority’s procurement policies and decisions; and (d) acting, and being seen to act, with integrity. Authorities must also treat suppliers the same, unless a difference between the suppliers justifies different treatment.
Fewer procedures:
Replacing the multiple procedures that had built up, there will be just three options: direct award, competitive tendering procedure, or an award under an existing framework. The competitive flexible procedure will enable contracting authorities (within constraints) to design their procurement processes to suit requirements.
The new Act consolidates the different procurement rules
“The 10-day standstill becomes an eight working days period, and the automatic suspension will only be available if a claim is brought within those eight days”
Framework agreements:
Frameworks can be tendered as they currently are, but a new open framework for as long as eight years will be permitted – in which case they must be ‘opened’ at least once during the first three years and then at least once during each five-year period.
Transparency:
There will be additional transparency requirements – for example, publishing ‘contract change notices’ before modifying contracts, and ‘contract termination notices’.
Standstill:
The old regime’s 10-day standstill requirement becomes an eight working days period, and the
automatic suspension will only be available if a claim is brought (and the contracting authority is notified) within those eight working days.
Below-threshold contracts:
Where the value of the contract falls below the level above which full application of the regulations applies, a new set of rules will apply. Under these, consideration has to be given to tendering barriers that SMEs may face and there will be implied prompt-payment terms.
The Procurement Act 2023 will be supplemented by secondary legislation that will provide more detail as to how the new regime will apply. Assuming a General Election later this year, we wait to see the final implementation details and timetable.
