Cambridge Architecture CA 42

Summer 1999

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GOING PLACES

Welcome to Cambridge - heritage city - going nowhere

historic core of present day Cambridge is a raction of the greater and future city. Urban strategies need to be differentiated to reflect this

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and policy should build on the difference between

the environment of the histOric core as a special case, and the other city of Cambridge, tomorrow's heritage.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS CULTURE AND THE AMERICANISATION OF THE CITY

To take the case of the Cattle Market redevelopment, Turnstone Estates are negotiating with the City Council to build a Leisure complex

with a multiplex cinema, ten pin bowling alley, Eura.lille - European gateway to the city

Living in Cambridge for nearly forty years it is not possible to avoid paying attention to the City and it is difficult to be passive towards the changes and to the potential. Cambridge has for too long lived off its symbolic capital and has been content to let the University set the urban scene. Stripped of the

historic colleges and Cambridge University buildings the City would be a very mediocre township, way down the league tables, outshone and out-classed by Bury St Edmunds and Ely for example, and enhanced only by its green spaces and a. handful of churches. The City has no uplifting vision of itself outside of this academic setting, no civic symbols or presence represented in the built environment of any notable quality and contemporary significance. lt is difficult also to be content with the notion that developers (var.

video game arcade, restaurants, a hotel, small shops, 28 dwellings, a multi storey car park and surface parking with a public 'piazza' just leaving room for extensions to the Junction - one of the. brighter manifestations of new life in the Q' addressing youth culture and its problematics. \* appointment of architects Burrell Foley Fischer for

its expansion and development will hopefully transform the present premises, giving it the

design boost it richly warrants. The Cattle Market site has a broader context with the adjacent sites of Railtrack (also putting forward redevelopment

proposals with WAGN for the Station forecourt) and on Hills Road, the Negus yard, the desolate City House development, and all the development

sites around Station Road (the location of an Architecture Centre urban design public workshop

1993, CAg 25). Together they add up to a

metamorphosis, notwithstanding William Holford,

substantial collocation of central city sites all ripe for regeneration. ln spite of all the public attention created by the Station Road workshop, in six years the City is nowhere nearer a coordinating strategy for redeveloping this area, which has the potential for being a new commercial and cultural sub centre for the clty built around integrated transport policy. The laissez faire attitude to planning (let the developer take the initiatives) is squandering the future by releasing development

English Heritage and its brakes on the living

parcel by parcel to arbitrary and piecemeal

world. .Strategies for the safeguarding of heritage

rebuilding, inhibiting any chance of coherent and idea-led growth of the city. The sites around the Station and the bridgehead of Hills Road present a

property stockbrokers) should exercise the dominant choices in regard to urban regeneration.

The heritage industry is so strong a guardian of the past that it obscures the obviousness of the present, and the reality that cities have a dynamic;

they are in a state of perpetual and ineluctable

need to be integrated with equally strong strategies for a living and creative city. The

POMPIDOU 2

unique opportunity and are so immensely important in relation to urban restructuring that all development in this location should be embargoed until a proper discourse of the issues is in hand and site specific strategic development plans reflecting the value of this group of sites to the future life of the City have been agreed on.

The issues conjured up by this locus are threefold. First the need for a strategic framework for physical, social and economic regeneration of the area related to qualitative urban design ideas.

L*.]a,lttamework should be configured around the sihgular importance of this confluence of transport interchange and spatial opportunity. Second, the broader horizons of urban renaissance that are galvanising cities throughout Europe in response to the qualitative changes happening under the influence of turbo capitalism and the emergence from post war dependency culture. Our cover picture of Euralille points to sites and projects of much greater critical mass than Cambridge ever will be or want to be, but the message of lhinking big is equally as relevant whalever the scale of

outcomes. And third, the content and future nature of the Hills Road, Cattle Market and Station sites needs to be exposed to the kind of

A - Leisure centre B - Auction rooms C - Apafiments and shops D - Hotel E - Public piazza F - Car park G - The Junction H - Multi-storey car park

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travesty of the attempt to revitalise the Arts Theatre; the Cambridge Darkroom unable to achieve its potential by virtue of the limitations of

its location; the Ioss of 'sheltered'studio accommodation with the redevelopment of the

Negus yard; the absence of an adequate

prominence and economic power is a

temporary exhibitions venue in the City; centres for interest groups; the loss of the Eastern Region Architecture Centre; the whole infrastructure of cultural facilities, in every direction the potential for local production and participation is frustrated by the shortcomings of space for culture in the City. Vision and leadership from the Regional Arts Board and City Council in this respect are stultifyingly absent. ln the other direction the enabling and promotion of cultural commodification through commercially driven enterprises

manipulative empire and its benevolent attributes

are privillged by the system.

public debate and legitimation that can only come from bringing culture into the centre of politics, as the Minister of Culture Chris Smith has pledged, not as an instrument of socio-political agendas, as the government would have it, but in its own right .----'1 with its own programmes.

*'-\r,Culture must continue to be understood as a

set of specific activities, as well as a subject of commodification. The cultural industry with its

ought not to be allowed to obscure the monopolistic influence it brings to bear for commercial or political ends. The critical practices of culture provide the resistance to the dumbing

down process that is attendant on the cultural industry if left to its own devices,. and it is imperative that social programmes, if they are to be worthy, adequately reflect the function and position of local cultural resource. The local polity has a duty to support this resource against the predations of the culture industry.

Mass culture by definition is what we all want (or most of us) but eight multiplex screens in the Grafton centre, eight more on the Cattle Market site all under the distribution control of Warner?

What space is there for presenting local

production? Frangois Ballay's wonderful scheme for transforming the Arts Cinema into a regional Film and Photographic centre, making it a worthy international centre f or the Cambridge Film

Festival which he had so successfully

masterminded, so sadly brought down by the

One of the schemes for redevelopment of the Cattle Market

ln the Cattle Market development proposals a new 'public' piazza vacuously occupies the Hills Road/Cherry Hinton Road corner at the point where a landmark'gateway' building would be the

most appropriate kind of development to signal entry to the city centre. lt is here that the absence of an urban design strategy for the city and for this group of sites is most painfully manifest.

There is nothing in the development proposals that gives meaning or civic quality. Everything apart from the economic objectives smacks of tokenism. A token budget hotel, token housing, token history (retention of auction rooms) token public space, token local shops. All it calls for are token sorts of people with real money to spend

and a taste for spectacle and popcorn. The problems and opportunity posed by this group of

sites warrant an international urban design competition out of which qualitative ideas might come that will lift the whole image of Cambridge as a city with a future.

Herman Ewticks

CITY APPOINTMENT

A UK FIRST Pawlet Warner has been appointed Cultural Planning Officer to the City of Cambridge, the first appointment of its

kind in the country. Previously Combined Arts and Cultural Diversjty Officer for East Midlands Arts, with

policy planning and client responsibility. Pawlet is a graduate of

European Cultural Planning at de Montfort University , Leicester. One of the first tasks has been the drafting of

a cultural and economic assessment

of Cambridge leading towards a Slrategic Cultural Plan for the City.

Key areas to be addressed are:

. . . . . . . .

the communication, coordination and dissemination ol information marketing, promotion, monitoring and evaluation of arts activities strategic financial development local culture and development education and training policy - arts and culture European connections

new technology and the digital

revolution contemporary/topicalissues venue/organisationaldevelopment contact: Pawlet Warner Cambridge Cultural Planning Bolton's Warehouse Tenison Road Cambridge CB1 2DG tel 01223 578313 e-mail info @ cambridgecp.demon.6o.uk

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IX

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FROM SPAD TO SPUD the American War

Museum, Duxford

Winner of the Stirling PrizelSunday Times Building of

Norman Foster and Partners building at Duxford was

also a recipient of the RIBA Eastern Region

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Architecture Award in 1998. What would be expected to be news event warranting a two page centre

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spread in a continental local newspaper managed scarcely four column inches (and no illustrations) in the Cambridge press- The Early Birds playgroup on the same page captured more than four times the news space and a picture. It is difficult to say whether

the lack of interest was a reflection of public feeling, or whether public feeling is a reflection of a lack in some way of the kind of service provincial journalism

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provides in this country in bringing news to the public, and its level of engagement with local issues.

More than the building it might be said is what it

lnterior view

represents; poignantly in relation to the American War Cemetry a few miles further along the M11. The failure to respond to occasion and to the symbolic moment reflects an absence of feeling, of a collective

spirit kept alive by such rituals of celebration, of an impoverished community that has no adequate strubtures of civic expression and sense of its own destiny; the local media have a role in this.

The Museum houses 2'1 US aircralt from WW1 to the Gulf War. lts most striking leature is the torus" shaped roof, 90m wide at the glazed facade, and 18.5m high, forming the largest single span vault in Europe. The tail fin and wing span of the giant B-52 bomber generating the vault form. As much weight of steel was used in the temporary centering as the weight of the concrete roof itself , which is

formed from precast panels

restrained by an in-situ concrete ring beam. The roof structure developed with engineers Ove Arup carries the

suspended display of aeroplanes, adding drama to the interior as well as making effective use of display

space. The huge curtain wall is designed for disassembly to facilitate

the luture changing of exhibits. The f1 1M project cosl was met from Lottery funding (t6.5M) with American veterans and the arms industry, together with a donation from Saudi Arabia for the Gulf War contribution, providing the balance.

* take a potato and slice down the

centre on both axes and, near enough, each quartile forms a torus

At the awards ceremony in Duxford in April this year, the irony was not lost on presenter Kate Adie, fresh from an American aircraft carrier launching the first cruise missiles into Kosovo, as she stood in the Air Musei.rm next to a cruise missile from the Gulf War. Museums are not only the sanctuary of the past they carry a living message and they are a place for reflection.

Something of a similar feeling of short- coming prompted a letter in the Architectural Review (July 1998).from engineer and aircraft enthusiast Frank Bright (Martlesham Heath Aviation Society) who

highlighted the lost opportunity for interpretation .....'the human aspect was completely missing.

Nothing about the crews, their age, their background, why they volunteered, their training. There was no linktrainer on display. What was a tour ? (of duty).

How many were likely to suruive, no sample letter from a CO to a parent or wife announcing a crew member as'missing', no uniform, no log book, nothing about ground crews....not even a simulated

Glazing strip on the perimeter ring beam

the collection of the practice's buildings in this region.

Whilst one marvels at the technical and architectonic

brilliance of the output of the Foster practice its capacity for creating atmosphere is undoubtedly constrained by the conceptual astringency of its genre and the ruthless discipline of formal idea. On the interpretive side there is a problem in bringing display meaningfully alive, which is not confined to this building, or this site and it points to a shortage of vision and skills in the area. Duxford lives off the proximity to events and the memory and participation of those who were active in them. The artefacts tell a story in themselves, as Director of the lmperial War Museum Ted lnman points out in a reply to the

criticisms (AR Nov 98) bul these are objects of a

continuing discourse, war from the air, and the aeroplanes per se do not engage with the f ull

roar of a 817 or of a Mustang taking off to add

meaning, nor do they paint the context. The course of

atmosphere no revolving turret to squeeze into, no cockpit, no side show apart from one tv screen.....'

And indeed what of the human consequences of

time will generate a need for more imaginative attention to the medium of interpretation, and the

aerial bombardment on the ground?

The Duxford building is a remarkable addition to

message, within the Duxford Museum generally.

Colen Lumley

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REINTERPRETING THE TERRACE Row housing in Portugal Place

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This residential scheme in Central Cambridge

TCH AIKOVSKY SLEPT HERE Current philosophy would suggest that a new staircase in an historic Cambridge College should

be strikingly different to the existing fabric. By rejecting this theory Downing College has shown faith in the future and respect for the past, which is remarkable. The work completed in March 1998 formed part of a comprehensive programme of repairs and improvements to West Lodge carried

replaces the old Gambridge University Fives Court and Racquets CIub. Aquila lnvestments appointed architects Barber Casanovas and Ruffles to rework the urban and contextual qualities of the existing

and mainly Victorian residential quarter in a contemporary manner. The 'L' shaped group of buildings provide two symmetrical rows of I town houses with 3 studio units positioned on the axis

out by York Construction with Freeland Rees

around a raised communal landscaped area, which acts as focal point viewed from the adjoining roads and Porlugal Place. Garages and parking are at the rear. The town houses have traditional construction

Roberts, architects, for whom this was the third

and materials; buff brickwork with architectural

project carried out for Downing.

West Lodge (1821) by Greek Revivatist William Wilkins was the original residence of the Professor of Law. The screen wall to the north pavilion was

concrete trim ; wood and metal windows and slate

inf illed by Edward Barry (1876). That to the

Mechanical and electrical engineering: Roger

Students pavilion to the south was lnfilled in the rt\..*so's with rather less attention to the pattern set -/ LWilkins. West Lodge contains a sequence of

roofing. The barrel-vaulted Studio units are sheathed in pre-weathered zinc.

Parker (see advert)

reception rooms, including music room, for

conf erences, lectures, seminars and recitals, together with Fellows' and students' rooms. The later history confirms earlier musical associations; Tchaikovsky, guest of Professor Maitland, stayed overnight on 12 June 1893.

The E300,000 contract included installations of shower facilities in rooms for students; new toilet

facilities and associated services; reroofing in Welsh slates and renewing the sand. cast lead runways through the roofspace to new downpipes at the rear; dry rot treatment and making good using traditional lime plaster on chestnut laths. The

reception rooms were returned to their original

state using Wilkins original drawings, and

RUSTIC MODERNISM

upgraded and redec- orated using historic colours.

The new spiral staircase was made from Portland Perryfleld Whitbed stone (as used elsewhere in the College) with nosings and mouldings to Wilkin's design. The stair is a harmonious and complementary addition few people would detect as being new to the building.

The services installations were carried out by CH Lindsey & Son, Colchester. (see advert)

Stephen Oliver

When architect husband and wife team Catrina Beevor and Robert Mull decided to build a studio home they went rustic. They found a site in a hamlet

on an estate at Wennington, north of Huntingdon, which is graced by thatched buildings. Accepting the design challenge of an obligatory thatched roof the self-built reinterpretation of the vernacular is now home for the family and the practice. The open and sophisticated configuration of the interior a modern counterpoint to its rural setting.

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process. By the end of the 1930s the ultimate aim was to secure a green belt around the town.

The Society was largely, if not entirely,

responsible for the formal establishment of the Cambridge Green Belt, a process which began with the approval of the first county development plan in 1954. With the local plannlng authorities and their statutory consultees now playing a rhore pro-active role in the planning process the Society does not enjoy quite the same influence that it had in its early years. The Society is probably best known today as the owner of the Wandlebury Estate on the summit of the Gogs, purchased in 1954 and now maintained as

a nature reserve to which the public has access for

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quiet enjoyment. The Society has never, however, losi its interest in its concern to preserve what its members consider to be the unique character of Cambridge, It has taken part in the discussion of virtually all planning issues in and around Cambridge, although its image may have been seen from time to time as rather negative.

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The Society is now being reconstituted and

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revitalised, hopefully in time to play a major pafi in the current debate of the future of the City. lt has also re; ,_

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estahlished its links with the Universitv. n r_--_ - Management Board has replaced the Society's rath-er o

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cumbersome Council of Management. The committee

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structure has been reorganised, with the aim to involve more members in every aspect of the

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LETTERS....

70 YEARS ON

from J. Whitt (Mrs)

The Cambridge Preservation Society

Apropos the article'Keeping in keeping' CAg 41 I would like to set the record straight. The new house in 1996 built on the former tennis-

court of Willow House, Conduit

Head Road, is not architect

designed. As a prospective buyer of the plot, having rejected the design

appended to the sales Iiterature,

I

contacted the Planning Department and submitted my own designs and specification for a small house that took account of the limitations of the plot and would be in keeping with

the general character of the

neighbouring 1930s houses. The Department reacted with "...the right

spirit. Go ahead". By then the vendors had accepted a higher bid (for a 2 storey brick house) but the vendors returned to my offer which then received planning assent.

lmet with architect Ralph

Carpenter whom I wanted to prepare official drawings of my plans and see the project through the planning procedure. Whilst I myself had only

dealt with the regular Planning Department, Mr Carpenter no doubt

has conferred with the Listed Building authorities and other 'consultees'. lt may be here that the

misunderstanding as regards an

architect-designed house has arisen. The bungalow as it stands today is that ol my original sketches,

be it with the addition of a cantilvered concrete slab over the front door and a vertically panelled garage door - both these details copying those of Willow House. Two

more serious modifications (steel windows as per per next door, and a change ol footprint) demanded by

Listed Building have not been incorporated Which may account for

a lack (rather than the loss) of a clarity, which l, as a layman, had not conceived of.

It was just over 70 years ago, on 7 February 1928, that the Mayor of Cambridge attended a meeting at Sidney Sussex Lodge at the invitation of the ViceChancellor of the University. They were joined by the government's Chief Town Planning lnspector, Mr GL (later Sir George) Pepler, several members of the University, representatives of the Borough Council, the County Council, the Rural District Councils of Chesterton and Linton, and of residents and landowners in the Town and County of Cambridge.

On'a proposal by the Master of Magdalene, Alan Ramsay, and seconded by the Mayor, they resolved

unanimously "that it is desirable to form a

Preservation Society of which the objects shall be to foster public opinion towards the preservation of the beauties of Cambridge and lts neighbourhood, and to cooperate with the County and Local Authorities, for this purpose..." The Society was initiated by Henry

( Hugh") Hughes FRIBA, later to take in Peter Bicknell as a partner and to become in 1932 President of the Essex, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire Society of Architects. He had been joined in the enterprise by Hugh Durnford, a bursar of King's College.

The Society's first concerns were to prevent indiscriminate housing development on the fringes of Cambridge mainly in the shape of cheap bungalows which would have lined the roads into the town as ribbon development. lts members were also worried that Cambridge would. suffer the same fate as Oxford,

where the Morris motorworks had become established. By buying farmland to the west of Cambridge and 'sterilising' other property by buying restrictive covenants from landowners, the Society began to achieve its first objectives. Granchester Meadows were 'sterilised' in this way. However, in spite of a prolonged campaign to "Save the Gogs!" the Society failed to raise enough money to sterilise them, although the campaign probably inhibited at least one developer. lt also took a full part in the planning

Society's work. The founders of the Society had a clear idea of what they r4rere setting out to preserve; they shared a vision of Cambridge. Reflecting the sheltered life of the pre-Second World War University it would today be regarded as rather romantic and unrealistic. lt was a vision eloquently described in the introduction to the Holford Report, whose authors then proceeded to show thal it did not reflect the situation on the ground. The Society has now published its "Vision for Cambridge". lt is intended as a statement

of what the Society now stands for. lt has been composed in the light of the recent forecast growth of households over the period to 2016. which has led to the view, expressed in some quarters, that there is the need to accommodate 12,000 new households in the Cambridge area over that In arriving at the existing character of CambAyF - this "Vision" recognises the dichotomy of the City, on the one hand an 'internationally renowned... historic

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university city...of national and international importance for its high tech industries and research' and on the other'locally significant as a service centre for its sub-region.' lt concludes that it is 'the unique

glory as well as the problem of Cambridge that a

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world-class University, together with all the activities has spawned or stimulated, should be superimposed upon the substructure of what was until quite recently a market town in a wide rural area.'This gives the City 'its distinctive heritage of juxtaposed contrasts, fine University and college buildings set against a country market square, rows of small houses, narrow streets and riverside and grazing grounds.' The character and visual identity of the City 'still derive from its historic

mix of University grandeur and apparent rural domesticity.' The importance of the 'green ribbon of the river' and the 'green fingers reaching from the heart of the City to the countryside' is stressed. To

preserve this special character the Society still believes that the city 'needs to remain as a small city within its Green Belt setting'. lt is also important to retain 'the characteristic pattern of green and open spaces within the city' and to restrain development to the south 'where the land

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rises gradually to the Gog Magog Hills'.

It must be admitted that at first sight this "Vision"

looks very much like that which the Society has cherished for seventy years. ln that sense it can be seen as evidence of the Society's consistency. By standing by this vision the Society is trying to protect the qualities which make the city attractive and which contribute so much to the quality of life of its citizens.

The loss of these qualities would not simply turn the

tourists away - an outcome some of us might

welcome - but could also put at risk the success of the

city as as a centre of excellence. The Society also now recognises that the national and international

, ,

importance of Cambridge as an historic university city derives not only from the University but also form its "high tech" industries and research. ln so doing the Society acknowledges the pressures for growth are Iikely to continue. lt rejects the "predict and provide" approach to housing, based upon an interpretation of past trends and advocates a "bottom up" approach in order to determine the need for private and affordable housing. ln the Society's view all development must

be within the capacity of the local environment to

.t- a^^ept it without degradation. there are no longer large areas of spare land t=y/s left for new housing inside the Green Belt the Society suggests that opportunities should be taken for high density housing and for further development of the

nearby market towns. lf the countryside south of Cambridge is not to be pockmarked with unsuitable development and if areas at present protected are to remain protected the Society suggests that a site to the nofth west of Cambridge outside the Green Belt should be found for the building of a 'substantial new

strategic lighting vision for the historic centre, prepare a detailed proposal for King's Parade and develop designs for a new light fitting for the public highway The commission also included an assessment of the Richardson "candles" to include the feasibility of modifying them to increase light output. The overall aims of the strategy include: making the City a more attractive, interesting and welcoming place in the evening and encouraging the greater night-time use of the City

An on-site demonstration of the impact of highway lighting and the lighting of buildings, including King's College Chapel and Screen, the Senate House and Great St Mary's was held in March last year. The repoft was adopted in March this Year by the Joint Committee and a protoypical street lighting unit

/Alconbury.

The Society will not be neglecting its stewardship

of the Wandlebury Estate. The Estate will be

buildings of architectural or historical importance, and the scope to do this today in Cambridge is limited.

The Society will, however, now be looking for opportunities to do this kind of work, either on its own or preferably in partnership with others. The Society provides a unique oppoftunity for professionals both active and retired and lay people to meet and work

together towards a worthy cause, the preservation and enhancement of an historic clty and its setting. lf "Preservation" seems dated and too negative for a new generation it as well to recall that 45 years ago, on the occasion of the Society's 25th Anniversary, it stated that "Preservation to us is dynamic, not static. lt is dealing with life not death, and life moves onward and changes as it moves... A body, able to perhaps look more dispassionately at the problems than those

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to Cambridge. Other development should be directed

TT.rrr,been noted for the restoration and preservation of -

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'Lighting Strategy' for the historic City centre. The commission from the City and County Councils and King's College require the consultants to prepare a

. bringing out the best in the City's historic

preserved largely as it is, although the recent gales and droughts have virtually eliminated the ancient :h tre6s. Unlike disimitar bodies the Society has

r

Internationally renowned lighting architects Spiers

and Major have been appointed to prepare a

town closely linked yet physically distinct from Cambridge'. This should meet the need for development which of necessity must be close

further afield, to places such as Huntingdon

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THE FUTURE'S BRIGHT

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architecture and townscape

. making the City feel a safer place at night

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commissioned.

Andy Thompson

,,HELLO -

I'M ON THE M11''

"The Cambridge outer area lacks grand landscape, which makes the attractive and positive

qualities that exist all the more precious."

Cambridge Local Plan 1996 The C18 Wale Monument atop of Clunch Pit Hill just west of Littie Shelford has recently been made into a monument of a different kind with the addition ol a mobile phone relay

tower and its accoutrements of transformer post and enclosures; a commemoration of the crassness of the twentieth century and to those

judgement and good manners can sometimes get the

responsible for this ineffable desecration. ls it the intention,

more stark proposals modified, and persuade thelr authors to live more comfortably with the past around them." The Society would welcome new members,

that this visual reinforcement of the Wale obelisk imparts its message that it is just as important to keep in

immediately involved, and equipped with sound

especially those who have new ideas and/or expertise in the fields in which it operates.

Anthony Cooper

perhaps, as you drive along the M11,

touch with the livjng as with the dead!

Another victory anyway for the aesthetically impaired. What about clinching it with a 'Hollywood' scaled sign - WELCOME T-O SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

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The production of this gazette was interupted during 1 998/99 but is now back on a quarterly basis with this issue. A quarterly review of current architectural, urbanist and environmental issues in the Cambridge area produced by the Cambridge Association of Architects. The views in this gazette are those of the individual contributors and not of the Association. Copy deadline for CA 43 Autumn is 30 September 1999 tssN 1361-3375

Editorial Board: David Raven , colen Lumley )co-editors Katie Thornburrow

ENTRE Cambridge Printing Park, Milton, Cambridge CB4 6A2.

Tel: 01 223 420862; Fax: 01 223 420783; ISDN: 01223 423613 Free and easy parking

Jeremy Lander John Preston C amb ri d g e Arch itect u re G az ette c/o 25a Hills Road Cambridge CB2 1NW Tel 353115/509183 Fax 576488 / 509185