Cambridge Architecture gazette CA76

PLANNING AHEAD

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CAMBRIDGE ARCHITECTURE Cambridge Association of Architects Gazette

AUTUMN/WINTER 2018 www.cambridgearchitects.org

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CONTENTS _4 NEWS

A round-up of news and events from around the region

_7 PLANNING FOR SUCCESS

Reporting from the Regional Council to the RIBA Nations and Regions Committee

_ 11 LIVING ACCORDIA

We look back at the 2008 Stirling Prizewinning residential scheme, which represented a forthright move toward a more European model

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CONTEXTUAL DESIGN

Thought-provoking cladding at Cambridge North railway station

_ 16 STUDENT AWARDS 2018

We feature the projects of the second- and third-year student prize-winners

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_ 19 SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

We look at the Stirling Prize and the Stephen Lawrence Award

_ 20 SPACES FOR PEOPLE

How local authorities are working together to meet the challenges of a growing city Cover photo: MUMA Architects' Storey’s Field Centre © Alan Williams

_ 24 MOLE FIJAL HOUSE

Mole Architects' one-off home in Ely, inspired by the local vernacular to articulate a home that responds positively to the surrounding area

_ 27 GOLDSMITH STREET: GOING FOR GOLD

Norwich City Council's decision to use the Passivhaus standard to help eliminate fuel poverty for the occupants of a scheme of 105 entirely socially rented homes

_ 30 WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON?

A round-up of ongoing projects around the region by local architects

WELCOME

In this edition of Cambridge Architecture, the planning system takes centre stage. CA76 looks at planning issues in and around Cambridge, including a report on the Collaborative Design Conference in July 2018, and a case study on Mole Architects' Fijal House in Ely. The Planning system is a linchpin of our environment, and this edition shows some of the successes and challenges both in the past and ahead of us. Among our regular features, we also look at Cambridge North station from a number of perspectives; the 2018 Cambridge University student awards, and – as part of our Stirling Prize coverage – we look at the Accordia development, 10 years after its historic win.

– The editors CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 3

NEWS

THE CAA THANKS THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS

• 4CB Architects LLP • AC Architects Cambridge Ltd • Ashley Courtney RIBA AABC • Barber Casanovas Ruffles Ltd • BB&C Architects Limited • BFA Architects • Caroe Architecture • CMP Architects Ltd • Colen Lumley RIBA • Cowper Griffith Architects • DaltonMuscat Architects LLP • EIKON Architecture and Design • Emma Adams Architect • Feilden+Mawson • Freeland Rees Roberts • George Davidson Architect • Graham Handley Architects • J F Hillier • Karen Rainsford Architect • M Reynolds RIBA • Mart Barrass Architect Ltd • MCW Architects • Mole Architects • Peter Rawlings Architects Ltd • PiP Architecture • R H Partnership Architects Ltd • Saunders Boston • Stephen Brooks Architect • Studio 24 Architects • Tristan Rees Roberts Architect

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NEWS AND EVENTS

NEW FOR 2019

CAMBRIDGE ARCHITECTURE GAZETTE

Cambridge Architecture Gazette is a review produced by the Cambridge Association of Architects, the local chapter 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, Natalie Matanda ADVERTISEMENT SALES Marie Luise CritchleyWaring (advertising@cambridgearchitects.org) Published by CPL www.cpl.co.uk

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As this year draws to a close, Cambridge Architecture is pleased to announce that our publishing dates will be changing in 2019.

Traditionally, we have published in May and November and, henceforth, we will be publishing in February and August.

The new dates more closely align with the CAA’s key activities with the university and wider construction industry, and give more opportunity for more timely information to be published (or at least as timely as one can, when publishing every six months).

So, to those receiving the gazette: don’t be alarmed when you receive another issue in February 2019; and, to those contributing to the next gazette, thanks for your continued – and earlier than usual – support.

© CAA

© Alan Williams

CONGRATULATIONS TO MUMA The CAA would like to offer McInnes Usher McKnight Architects (MUMA) congratulations for being one of the six finalists for the 2018 Stirling Prize, with its acclaimed design for the Storey’s Field Community Centre and Nursery, at Eddington, North West Cambridge, for the University of Cambridge.

The Stirling Prize was watched enthusiastically by eager spectators at the Storey’s Field Community Centre on 10 October, at an event organised by the CAA and RIBA East – albeit to a locally focused chorus of dismay at the announcement of the final result.

CA76 WAS SUPPORTED BY THE KIND DONATIONS FROM: For more information on how your organisation can support the production of the Cambridge Architecture through advertising and other opportunities, contact Marie Luise Critchley-Waring at fundraising@cambridgearchitects.org The CAA gratefully welcomes sponsorship of its annual activities, including events, talks, student projects and networking evenings. For more details, please contact treasurer@cambridgearchitects.org

NEWS

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GRAHAM HANDLEY ARCHITECTS TURNS 30

© Graham Handley Architects

Graham Handley Architects celebrated 30 years of practice on Friday 5 October. Clients and friends were invited for champagne and canapés at the practice’s revitalised offices in St Ives. GHA said: ‘Since 1988, Graham Handley Architects has built a reputation for planning expertise, working with listed buildings and sensitive locations, and working collaboratively with clients to create contemporary and individual buildings.’ The event celebrated the achievements of the team and looked ahead, demonstrating 3D modelling technology.

RISING PATH OPENS IN THE BOTANIC GARDEN

UPCOMING EVENTS

Cambridge Architecture attended a press preview of the Rising Path at Cambridge University Botanic Garden on Thursday 13 September. Designed by Chadwick Dryer Clarke Studio, the dynamic 65-metre long Rising Path features an interpretation hub and three-metre high elevated viewpoint, designed to inspire visitors to explore the garden’s systematic beds with fresh eyes and questioning minds. It opened to the public on Saturday 22 September.

RIBA CAMBRIDGE CPD ROADSHOW 15 November, 9.30am-4pm Hallmark Hotel, Bar Hill, Cambridge Join the RIBA for a full day of CPD, see www.architecture.com for details

CFCI LECTURE: THE NEW CAVENDISH LABORATORY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE 26 November, 6.30pm, members only See CFCI website for booking details Gillespie Centre, Clare College, Cambridge Bouygues UK showcases the new £300m development at the West Cambridge site, by architect Jestico + Whiles.

© Susie Lober

AN ARTIST ABOUT CAMBRIDGE

Lutterworth Press is publishing a new title, Artist About Cambridge, a collection of the paintings and drawings of the Cambridge artist Jon Harris, showing his unique view of the city landscape that has inspired him. The publisher comments that ‘the artist’s unrivalled knowledge and understanding of Cambridge and its environs inform every painting and drawing, helping you enjoy a thousand things you might otherwise miss’. The book is due out in November 2018.

APPRECIATING THE OLD, INCORPORATING THE NEW 29 November, 2pm-4.30pm Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, CM1 1SQ Seminar addressing the process of successful adaptation and revitalisation of historic buildings. Members £65.

CAA CHRISTMAS SOCIAL

LOCAL PLANS AGREED In a long-awaited decision, the independent inspectors appointed to examine the Local Plans for South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge have found them to ‘provide an appropriate basis for the planning of the area, provided that a number of main modifications are made’. South Cambridgeshire District Council agreed to adopt its (modified) Local Plan on 27 September 2018; Cambridge City agreed to adopt the (similarly modified) Local Plan on 18 October 2018. The decision means that, three years later than originally intended, there is certainty over adopted policies and development intent. © Cambridge City Council

4 December, 6.30pm-9pm See www.cambridgearchitects.org for details The Old Bicycle Shop, Cambridge

CFCI LEGO COMPETITION

11 December, 6pm-9.30pm The cafe bar, New Court, Jesus College, Cambridge Team tickets sold out, but spectators welcome, see website for details.

CAA DESIGN WORKSHOP 11 February 2019, details to be confirmed Chesterton Community College Please contact Outreach@ cambridgearchitects.org if you would like to help the CAA teach children about architecture

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 5

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

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NPPF & DESIGN iStock /ijeab

HOW SHOULD PLANNERS AND ARCHITECTS WORK TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES?

Jon Jennings, director at the Cheffins Planning and Development team explains: Unlike its 2012 predecessor, the July 2018 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has sought to raise the profile of design, and seeks for planners and architects to be 'clear about design expectations and how these will be tested'.

The emphasis on design is part of the increasing move away from submitting basic outline applications and deferring what a scheme looks like to a later date. In his introduction to the new version of the NPPF, James Brokenshire, Housing Secretary, has placed greater emphasis on high quality design and given local authorities greater powers to refuse applications of poor quality or unattractive appearance. He points out that there is a need for 'refocussing on the quality and design of proposals which are in line with what local communities want' and ensuring 'councils have the confidence and tools to refuse permission for development that does not prioritise design quality and does not complement its surroundings'.

The theory is that this will bring an end to faceless schemes and help 6 | CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE

create buildings people want to live in and enjoy.

It must also be recognised that the NPPF is seeking to significantly increase densities, and it will be interesting to see in practice how this will work alongside design objectives. In addition, it must also be acknowledged by all concerned in the process that a serious issue regarding affordability exists. There is a need for innovative building methods, which will not lead to increased design costs being passed on to the purchaser. It will be up to planners and architects to offer solutions and to present them in such a way that the prospective residents and public fully engage and support such schemes. However, we will need to articulate our arguments in such a way as to avoid ‘design by committee’ which could lead to innovative developments being stifled.

The above gives a brief snapshot of how the NPPF is looking at design, but how should architects and planners work together to ensure its objectives are achieved in reality?

One clear message is that we will need to work together to engage with people via public engagement – such as workshops – rather than public consultation exercises, where the design is presented as a fait

accompli. The test for planners and architects will be to present and sell schemes, while avoiding conflict and unrealistic expectations linked to the public’s preconceptions of what they require. If not well-managed, this process could delay – or even derail – a project. We will also need to demonstrate that design goes beyond simple appearance and creates places that are more inclusive, safer and healthier. We will need to promote sustainable development by achieving innovation and quality and, finally, we will need to demonstrate better outcomes for the economy as well as for the prospective residents.

Planners may have the ability to put forward such ideas in words but, clearly, architects and designers are the ones with the skills to 'make a picture worth a thousand words.' However, design is not the only issue the council will take into account, and planning consultants will need to ensure that the other numerous requirements being sought by planning authorities – in the form of policy and guidance – are also accounted for. This tells me that architects and planners must collaborate at the start of the process and ensure that design is not treated as a ‘tick box’ exercise, and that clients/developers can be convinced the design process can work positively rather than be seen as an expensive constraint.

It will be interesting to see how the objectives of the NPPF are interpreted by the local planning authorities in their local plans and the decision-making process. Older professionals will note the emphasis on design has been promoted before and was not necessarily successful.

However, with the weight of the NPPF behind it, there may be a change for the better. The old adage 'time will tell' would seem appropriate.

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PLANNING FOR

SUCCESS WORDS: TOM FOGGIN, CHAIR, RIBA EAST, AND DELYTH TURNER-HARRISS, PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER, RIBA EAST

As chair of the RIBA East region, I am privileged to meet RIBA branch chairs from across the East of England. We discuss issues important to architects and the wider construction industry, and I report these discussions from regional council to the RIBA Nations and Regions Committee: one of the main conduits for feedback into the institute. Through these meetings, a number of concerns have become clear, unsurprisingly resonating with parallel discussion in other regions, the Royal Society of Architects in Wales and International Chapters of the RIBA. In particular, there is real pressure and concern surrounding planning: both the process of working with local authorities and concerns about design quality. Procurement is another cause for concern across the industry, with reports of tortuous and, sometimes, unreasonable tendering processes and a continued ‘race to the bottom’ in fee bidding with quality often overlooked and decisions based solely on price.

An issue close to my heart, and of

concern across the board, is the need to engage with the next generation of architects and industry professionals, and to promote social mobility, creating an industry that truly represents the wider population. This issue was highlighted in the election manifesto for Alan Jones, RIBA presidentelect, and I look forward to seeing how this develops through his term; the key will be ensuring equality, diversity and inclusivity are at the core of the industry for future generations, both nationally and in the activities we all undertake as professionals.

The RIBA Nations and Regions Committee is currently consulting to develop a business plan for 2019, and a wider strategic plan for future years, to ensure these key priorities are addressed by the RIBA. This is a positive change of direction for the institute, with an emphasis on regional input and engaging with the wider membership and industry to improve its role and the services it delivers. Recent announcements have started to address some of these issues, for example reduced costs for members to attend RIBA CPD sessions should be a welcome announcement, helping the institute share knowledge more easily.

Meanwhile in the East, the regional council and team at the regional office have been developing ideas on how to address key issues of planning, procurement and the future of the profession at a local level.

Our first initiative aims to build bridges between architects and developers, and their counterparts in local authorities, in particular planning officers and committee members.

The first step – to stimulate dialogue between different stakeholders – took place at a joint RIBA East/Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) East conference at Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, in July this year.

Allen Pyke Associates

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning based in Cambridge www.allenpyke.co.uk 01223 358 055 v.friedlander@allenpyke.co.uk CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 7

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THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATIVE DESIGN

The conference aimed to stimulate discussion of how designers, planners, local authorities and others can work together to provide coherent, enjoyable and quality environments to live, work and play. A consistent thread running through the presentations was the importance of clear communication and collaborative working, breaking down barriers and that finding a common language across disciplines should lead to more successful outcomes.

There are various ways this can be achieved, for example: developing case studies sharing best practice for design development and consultation; organising field trips for committee members and design teams to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of designs; education and knowledge sharing to demonstrate ‘the good, bad and the ugly’ in planning; and engaging younger professionals through networking and joint activities.

FEEDBACK

Feedback from delegates raised a wide variety of issues that may offer future opportunities for collaboration between the RTPI and RIBA. Suggested topics included: n Placemaking and planning healthy communities n Placemaking in town centres and creating new communities/youth engagement n Accessibility/public realm/renewable technologies n Use of cross-disciplinary project teams – architects/planners/engineers n Meeting demand: what does the general public want? Is medium density suburbia the answer, or denser urban development near transport hubs, enabling sensitive rural development at lower density in the countryside?

However, collaborative engagement can be a pipe dream when dealing with small projects; there simply isn’t sufficient resource within local authorities to engage positively on every application. Similarly, the impetus can only come from the Planning department since there is little an individual

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Essex Design Guide development summary, from 'Addressing growth with quality' © Essex County Council

architect or applicant can do to influence the local authority.

Furthermore, exemplar projects showcased at the conference, such as the Aura scheme by TateHindle and Countryside Properties (CA74, p11), demonstrated best practice collaboration between developers and local authorities, but the Cambridge

housing market does not necessarily reflect the wider national context.

Large parts of the country face a major challenge to boost the delivery of homes, with a smaller pool of less ambitious volume housebuilders. The starting point for these developers is rarely an architectled, site-specific scheme, instead typically

Aura, Great Kneighton by TateHindle Architects © Timothy Soar

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME The Thurrock Design Guide and Design Strategy Kirsty Paul, growth and strategy team, Thurrock Local Authority Jamie Campbell, Bell Phillips Architects

St Chads, Essex by Bell Phillips Architects © Kilian O'Sullivan

recycling standard house types. One way for local authorities to encourage good design in these solutions could be dialogue at a national scale.

A follow-up conference involving planners, architects and national housebuilders could help the culture shift towards better understanding between stakeholders at large scale necessary to influence the wider national context.

THE WAY FORWARD

At the September regional council meeting, members agreed they wanted to follow up some of the suggested outcomes from the conference. Local events with planners could be delivered at branch level with coordination at regional level, focusing on local case studies, presentations and discussion, shared best practice events and exemplar project visits.

There is ambition to organise follow-up activities to engage with local authorities, for example site visits, workshops, crossdiscipline CPD and shared networking events. We hope to organise a light-touch series of activities for members of both the RIBA and RTPI to enable further discussion, ultimately aiming to organise a programme of events over the next few years addressing issues raised at the conference.

Addressing growth with quality Graham Thomas, head of planning services and chair at Essex Planning Officers' Association Peter Dawson, built environment manager and design champion, Place Services, Essex County Council Bracelet Close, Thurrock, Bell Phillips Architects © Kilian O'Sullivan

Chair: Tom Foggin, chair, RIBA East Theme: Policy and practice Dr Jennifer Thomas, head of built environment, MHCLG Andy Von Bradsky, adviser, MHCLG, and chair at The Housing Forum Are homes badly designed or is it cities that are badly designed?

Richard Blyth, head of policy and research, RTPI

Good design in the planning process Stephen Kelly, director, Joint Planning Service, Cambridge City Council

Project exemplar: Aura Cambridge Jonathan Brookes, principal urban designer, Cambridge City Council Mike Jamieson, design director, TateHindle Jonathan Gimblett, associate director (land and planning) new homes and communities – Central Countryside Properties Panel debate – all speakers

DELEGATE TESTIMONIAL The conference content was very well considered and structured in such a way as to provide elements of discussion and examples of best practice throughout each element of the day. The various talks focused on different aspects of what it means to collaborate and how you can define good design in practice. I found the speakers engaging and informative and took away many ideas on how to apply practically the ideas presented on the day.

The collaboration between the RTPI and RIBA showed those attending there is a willingness on both sides to truly collaborate to enhance positively the built environment.

There is a recognition that planning is the gatekeeper to developing our future towns and cities and it is imperative both planners and architects work together to create the best future for where we live, work and play.

Creating the opportunity to facilitate this discussion can only be a good thing and hopefully it will generate positive relationships between the professionals and professional bodies in the future.

Jerene Irwin, director, Chaplin Farrant

View each session of the conference on the RIBA YouTube channel: bit.ly/ca76planning

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LIVING ACCORDIA

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LIVING Aberdeen Avenue © Maccreanor Lavington Architects

How Accordia’s legacy – representing a clear break from tradition – has reached beyond Cambridge and entered our housing psyche WORDS AND PHOTOS: MARK RICHARDS, STUDIO24 ARCHITECTS

‘The values of Accordia are those that British cities need more of: a subtly controlling masterplan, a collaborative approach and an eye for both the detail and the big picture in the landscape and the architecture,’ said the RIBA Stirling Prize jury in 2008.

A retrospective of the Stirling Prizewinning residential scheme, organised by the CAA and RIBA East, was the first talk in a series to look at design collaboration and planning. The team members responsible for the groundbreaking residential scheme regrouped to share their thoughts on its 10th anniversary, how it came about, what the scheme represented for them and what lessons were – or should have been – learned.

Speakers included: Peter Studdert, former director of planning at Cambridge City Council; Jonathan Gimblett, associate director for land and planning at Countryside Properties; architects Mike Keys, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Richard Lavington, Maccreanor Lavington and Michael Woodford, Alison Brooks Architects; and Accordia resident Paul Drew.

PLANNING BACKGROUND

The Accordia site, comprising 378 dwellings, was originally the verdant grounds and gardens of Brooklands House, a Grade II-listed property that still stands at the northern end of the scheme. The garden site had been requisitioned by the government in 1946 for office buildings, and a nuclear

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bunker was built in the 1950s. Shortly after adoption of the 1996 Local Plan, a landscapeled planning brief was drawn up by Studdert and his team for the largest single residential site that had been identified in the city.

The brief established the basic development plan principles, including the main arterial Aberdeen Avenue, connections to the surrounding areas and a principle three-storey height limit (which was challenged later during development).

Accordia represented a clear break from tradition: high density, permeable, a landscape-led design and a forthright move toward an altogether more European model and character.

TEAM RETROSPECTIVE

Following an initial outline application by Countryside’s in-house team, the developer was persuaded to think again and invest in the requisite skills of architects and landscape design.

Feilden Clegg Bradley (FCB) Studios was appointed as architect in February 2002.

Mike Keys recalled its approach, which first plotted and identified the best existing trees to establish the spaces between, what would become the roads, paths and plot areas for the houses.

You’d think, looking back at the plan, that it is just too perfect, as if the significant trees knew this day would come. Keys gave thanks to Grant Associates, which worked meticulously with his team throughout on the landscape approach, both site-wide and within each house type.

Courtyard houses © Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

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Courtyard houses and gardens © Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

AWARDS

RIBA Stirling Prize 2008 RIBA National Award 2008 Civic Trust Award 2007 Housing Design Awards 2006: overall winner Building for Life Awards: Gold standard 2006

Keys recalls their architectural desire to attain variety within the house layouts and took a bold step to request of their new client the further engagement of two, relatively new architectural firms – Maccreanor Lavington and Alison Brooks, initially engaged under FCB’s appointment – to evolve house types within the plan. Keys thanked the client, who gave him, and the newly assembled team, the 'head space' to develop their design so eagerly awaited by the city.

The main design move came from that crucial investment placed on the value of existing trees and the spaces created by

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them, which, in turn, helped to establish the compact house typology – urban blocks in the landscape.

Designs placed habitable spaces on different levels next to internal decks and courtyard spaces. Houses were then terraced and bookended with pairs of semidetached villas. The expression increased available amenity space, both public and private. Coupled with apartment blocks on the perimeter, sat above parking garages, smaller-scale affordable houses were clustered within the plan. The cohesion and mix formed within the plan, coupled with a limited materials palette and expression of the individual homeowner within a collective, delivered on many levels.

Maccreanor Lavington (ML) and Alison Brooks Architects (ABA) recalled the amazing opportunity that had been afforded their young firms. ML undertook a series of four-storey terrace blocks fronting the main avenue, creating a reinterpretation of a traditional Georgian house – 25m long by 5.25m, coupling twins of two house types, integrating decks and courtyards. The houses backed onto the fronts of dwellings behind with self-regulating mews streets between.

ABA engaged with the traditional ‘semidetached’ typology to create two large and distinctive villas at the development’s front, facing Brooklands Avenue.

A split-level floor arrangement in section created dramatic internal spaces at ground and top floors.

ABA also implemented designs for two other apartment blocks. The ‘Brass Building’, a highlight of the scheme, created an alternating manipulated façade, giving oblique views from opposing windows at each floor level, a device that has since been employed on other ABA schemes.

Accordia’s qualities of place-making and planning have subsequently influenced Countryside’s schemes at Abode and Aura in Great Kneighton, Cambridge, and further afield at The Mount, Millbrook Park, London.

Each scheme shares the variety, mix and approach to plan with a strong focus on community, amenity, pathways and streets.

The architecture, too, continues to adopt

End houses © Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Brass Building © Alison Brooks Architects

simple calm material palettes, which had been so successful at Accordia.

LEARNED LESSONS

It was clear from Gimblett that the Countryside Properties development had been bold in its approach. It created a strong unity among the design team, which understood the benefits each other’s skills could play. The city planners and their highways engineers had been instrumental, he said. They rolled up their sleeves and supported the dialogue of design to overcome obstacles that continue to beset other local authorities.

Less clearly defined at Accordia was the identity of a future custodian for the development’s care and how to address that common unpredictable influencer – human behaviour and other external factors, such as commuter parking. The architects agreed they would have liked to have continued with phases two and three, to provide continuity to the detail. It was clear from Drew’s comments, as a resident, that he and his neighbours appreciated the good design with its robust nature that can flex and accommodate limited change.

Accordia’s legacy has reached well

beyond Cambridge and has, without doubt, entered our housing psyche. Whether it has the adaptable nature of its forebears of the humble Victorian terrace, or Georgian townhouse, time will tell.

Locally, however, not many schemes submitted for planning pass up the opportunity to justify themselves by drawing applied similarities with the scheme. But is design by image-making, matching a brick or elevating a wall in the same manner, a good enough legacy for Cambridge? Keys summed it up quite succinctly. His team strived to avoid the architectural zoo and had taken a holistic humanist approach from the simple courtyard houses, found in Portugal and Spain, and evolved the idea for the urban landscape at Accordia. It just hadn’t been translated to work here before.

SITE DETAILS

Overall site area: 9.5 hectares Public gardens: 3 hectares 40 dwellings per hectare overall 65 dwellings per hectare in urban blocks (excluding public open space and existing tree-lined avenues)

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CONTEXTUAL DESIGN

Patterns and panelling on the platform ©Atkins

In May 2017, the first new railway station for Cambridge in more than 170 years opened.

Cambridge Architecture considers the thought-provoking cladding in further detail WORDS: QUINTIN DOYLE, DR DOUGLAS DELACEY, DR BONNIE KWOK, DAVID ADAMS PHOTOS: MORLEY VON STERNBERG

CONTEMPLATING CAMBRIDGE

The dynamic façade of Cambridge North Station is unabashedly modern and, perhaps in keeping with the spirit of Cambridge, a fusion of art and science. It is simple, economic, eye catching and, as a nod to the presence of mathematics in Cambridge, very effective. But what about relating to a certain Cambridge mathematician specifically?

Following publication of his letter in CA75, Cambridge Architecture asked Dr Douglas de Lacey, the councillor representing the Girton Ward; Dr Bonnie Kwok, principal urban designer for South Cambridgeshire District Council; and Quintin Doyle, senior architectural designer for Atkins, to offer their

thoughts in more detail on the station and its cladding.

DESIGNING CAMBRIDGE NORTH

Quintin Doyle, senior architectural designer, Atkins – a member of the SNC-Lavalin group Cambridge North, like all station design, was an exercise in how to get people from street to platform in the safest manner while creating a series of memorable spaces along this route, all bound by the strict spatial guidance of Network Rail.

Early in the process, we held three ‘Planning, urban design and architecture’ workshops with the city and South Cambs councils to ensure what we were proposing

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was both fit for purpose and in keeping with their vision for this key piece of regional infrastructure.

The skin of the building went from ‘not another brick box!’ to the perforated cladding that wraps around the station, offering some stunning, diaphanous effects when moving through the building.

We discussed how we arrived at Rule 30 (Wolfram) through our investigation of the ‘Game of Life’ (Conway), both systems of cellular automata, but both very different, and how we had arranged the more open areas of the panels at eye-level to assist with wayfinding.

Our brief was to provide a pioneer, gateway building and be the catalyst for

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©Morley Von Sternberg Crossing the bridge ©Atkins

Speeding through Cambridge ©Atkins

the development of the CB4 development.

That we have also encouraged discussion on mathematics, science and the arts is a positive – and highly unusual – scenario for the design of a new station.

A COUNCILLOR’S VIEW

Dr Douglas de Lacey, chairman South Cambridgeshire District Council (Girton ward) As a member of the Joint Development Control Committee, I was part of the decision to approve plans for Cambridge

North. As a former pupil of John Conway's, I was delighted at the decision to honour him by a depiction of his ‘Game of Life’, of which Wikipedia says ‘scholars in various fields... have made use of the way that complex patterns can emerge from the implementation of the game's simple rules’.

Everything that came to the committee assured us the metal cladding ‘incorporates a pattern based on a mathematical theory called the Game of Life by Cambridge mathematician John Conway’. Mea culpa, I did not actually check with the hundreds of documents submitted with the application.

Imagine my horror when I saw the actual design on the station. Not Game of Life, but based on Oxford mathematician Stephen Wolfram’s ‘Rule 30’ for producing a pattern from a simple cell by a simple rule.

Wolfram was influenced by Conway, but to describe the pattern as incorporating the Game of Life is like describing Brahms' A German Requiem as incorporating Beethoven's Fifth. We can only hope that when the next new station is built in Cambridge it should have a true Game of Life façade.

THE PLANNING PERSPECTIVE Dr Bonnie Kwok, Greater Cambridge Planning Service Cambridge North Station remains a positive statement of an ambition to enrich its environment that – alongside its functionality – seeks to incorporate original design.

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

Architects and designers are encouraged to embrace the creative thinking that enriches the design process. Local planning authorities have been criticised for allowing developers to use ‘standard’ building types in new developments, resulting in places that lack identity. Rather than focusing on the origin of the cladding pattern, we hope to expand the conversation to encourage architects and designers to innovate and excite us all through creative architectural and public realm design.

Having lived, studied and worked in Oxford for more than a decade, and having had the privilege of working with architects across the greater Cambridge area, I suggest that, alongside the healthy rivalry, there is a similarity between Oxford and Cambridge that should be celebrated.

Both cities are filled with intellectuals that have made significant contributions to the advancement of our knowledge in many different fields. I hope we continue to embrace the contribution of all great scientists in our pursuit of distinctive, welldesigned developments.

The interest in Cambridge North has, I hope, reignited the need to rethink the importance of reconnecting both cities – and poses some interesting questions to explore in the plans for the new Varsity Line.

SUMMING UP

Cambridge Architecture offers its thanks to Mr Doyle, Dr Kwok and Dr de Lacey, for their time and insight. It is encouraging that a building has created such debate – both architectural and mathematical – via web pages, blog posts, videos and online articles.

Dr Wolframs’s enthusiastic blog post ‘Oh My Gosh, It’s Covered in Rule 30s!’ is heartily recommended.

As a Cambridge-relevant pattern, the facade is perhaps conceptually weakened, and is certainly a missed opportunity, particularly for such a defining feature.

Nonetheless, as a whole, it is still to be applauded: well-designed architecture that is well executed and creates interest, debate, and considered thought – all are vastly underused commodities at present.

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CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 15

STUDENT AWARDS 2018 This year, we awarded Jian Lin Wong the CAA Prize for the second-year student displaying the greatest all-round ability in studio work, written examinations and coursework. The RIBA East Prize for the top overall third-year student was jointly awarded to Hannah Sheerin and Kaye Song. Congratulations to all the winners!

CAA PRIZE: SECOND YEAR JIAN LIN WONG

The Leyton Seed Exchange stems from a desire to return to a slower, time-grounded approach to food and nature. By encouraging small-scale, hands-on growing practices centred on local and seasonal varieties, the proposal hopes to rediscover the pleasures to be found in the variations of the natural world.

Located in London’s Lea Valley, the scheme proposes a resource centre for growing composed of a public library of seeds, a small laboratory and archive, and a gathering space for growing workshops and seed exchanges.

Together, these volumes form a new station square for Lea Bridge railway station. Over time, disused areas in the valley will be converted to allotment spaces.

The scheme returns agriculture to the city to challenge the notion that growing belongs to the remote hinterland. Instead, it envisions growing spaces as places to bring people together in a celebration of food and nature.

Š Jian Li n Wong

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STUDENT AWARDS

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RIBA EAST PRIZE: THIRD YEAR HANNAH SHEERIN

Sheffield’s urban edge-sites are being overtaken by developers, hollowing out industry and leaving a cohort of creative industries and small-scale manufacturers without a suitable space to work. However, by learning from the loose and opportunistic nature of Sheffield’s existing urbanisms we can shape a new piece of the city.

The project defines a new tectonic language of construction, restricted to standard building details and components that are low-cost and easily accessible. The components fit together within a complex system – not following a deterministic formula but responding to the circumstance and environment of the space it encloses and embracing colour as a part of its hybridity.

The system is broken opportunistically: a balcony pulls out to provide a covered yard space for outside work and the building cuts in to offer a niche where you can break for a smoke. These idiosyncratic moments introduce further spatial variety and uncover moments of ingenuity within the repetition.

© Hannah Sheerin

RIBA EAST AWARD: THIRD YEAR KAYE SONG

© Kaye Song

The design for a workshop cooperative in Sheffield argues for the social and practical usefulness of voids in the city, exploring how its spatial qualities can give rise to an architecture that reconsiders how the post-industrial city works and what it feels like.

By drawing on found urbanism and vernacular construction in Sheffield, the proposal aims to make architecture that serves long-lasting cultural and historic value to the city. While it seeks to accommodate contemporary modes of lighter, individual working, the building’s construction has also been designed to allow adaptation to further support this aim as lifestyles and habits inevitably change.

An idea of scooping out voids is applied first as an alternative model for urbanism in Sheffield’s barren and blocky landscape.

This is later applied at a variety of scales to create differing levels of interiority that generate intimacy and sociability in the building.

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 17

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'STERLING' PRIZE

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THE ‘STERLING’ PRIZE? In a year that saw a disparate range of projects shortlisted for both the Stephen Lawrence Prize and the Stirling Prize – arguably the highest accolades in British architecture – we asked the Secret Architect to examine the results. Just what does it take to win these esteemed awards?

WORDS: THE SECRET ARCHITECT

Two RIBA East Award winners made the shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize – MUMA’s Storey’s Field Nursery and Community Centre, and Waugh Thistleton’s Bushey Cemetery – while two were shortlisted for the Stephen Lawrence Prize – Blee Halligan’s Five Acre Barn and SKArchitects’ White Heather House.

Many of these projects demonstrate the skills, patience, determination and tenacity of an architect, helping to create buildings

that transform people’s lives – buildings of truly public and social benefit.

When you read this article, the results will have been revealed but, before the announcement was made, we found ourselves questioning the relevance of these awards.

What are the differences between these prizes? Which is more relevant? What does it take to win? What does the winning practice look like? Is cost a factor?

STEPHEN LAWRENCE PRIZE WINNERS 1998-2017

STEPHEN LAWRENCE PRIZE SHORTLIST 2018

Average Cost*

Average Cost*

£4,332/m

2

80%

of winning principals or founding partners are male

36%

£3,673/m2

winning projects in London

60%

Average age

44

46 15%

of projects in London

of winning principals or founding partners are male Average age

10%

46%

85%

60%

14% 14%

Average Cost*

Average Cost*

86%

of winning principals or founding partners are male Average age

54

£9,382/m2

winning projects in London 14% 9%

STIRLING PRIZE 2018

33%

of projects in London

90%

4%

32%

of winning principals or founding partners are male

16.7%

16.7%

16.7%

16.7%

Average age

18%

56 23%

50% of principals or North Yorkshire Sector: Residential

STIRLING PRIZE SHORTLIST 2018

£6,532/m

Cost: £4,762/m2 Average age of current principals: 56 years old

Location:

10%

30%

Old Shed New House, Tonkin Liu

founding partners are male

72%

STIRLING PRIZE WINNERS 1996-2017

2

STEPHEN LAWRENCE PRIZE 2018

33.3%

Bloomberg HQ, Foster+Partners Cost: £15,000/m2 Age of current principal:

83 years old 100% of principals or

founding partners are male Location:

London Sector: Workplace

PROJECT WINNERS BY SECTOR/BUILDING TYPE:

Community

Cultural

Education

Public

Residential

Workplace

*£/m2 figures are based on published figures by AJ/RIBA submitted with the awards. Costs have been updated to 1st Quarter 2018 levels using RICS Building Cost Index Tender Price Tracker to show comparable level with this year’s submissions. Average figure is based on the last 10 years of winners, excluding buildings with little floor area but larger infrastructure or landscape costs, for example Hastings Pier, Stirling Prize winner 2017.

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 19

Spaces for people

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MAKING SPACE FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK’S FASTESTGROWING CITY

© iStock: damnura

Cambridge is steeped in history and, in many ways, defined by its 800-year-old university, its ancient buildings, and its traditions of punting and cycling. The city is also experiencing significant growth, so local authorities are working together to understand and accommodate some of the challenges brought about by its success as they relate to key streets and spaces WORDS: JONATHAN BROOKES

The 1980s marked the start of the ‘Cambridge phenomenon’ and, for the subsequent decades, R&D and related businesses have thrived – one only needs to look at the development of the Science Park and the large number of business parks and campuses in and around the city.

This growth is set to continue, with 44,000 new jobs predicted by 2031 in the Greater Cambridge Planning Authority area (covering the city council and South Cambridgeshire District Council administrative areas).

Many of these jobs will be just outside the historic core of the city, at sites such as the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, university developments at West and North-West Cambridge, and research parks, such as Granta Park and Babraham Institute that lie beyond the immediate city boundary. Along with jobs growth, Greater Cambridge will also need to accommodate about 33,500 new homes in this same period.

The historic heart of Cambridge is defined by the colleges and medieval street pattern that sit cheek by jowl with retail and leisure

facilities. Collectively, this creates a tourist destination of global significance and, at a more local level, sustains the needs of communities in the city and sub-region. It is a special place – but there are concerns in some quarters that the character of Cambridge could be damaged by the impact of growth in jobs, housing and associated traffic, as well as increasing tourist numbers.

CAMBRIDGE – A WALKABLE CITY

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP),

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20 | CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE

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a ‘City Deal’ partnership of the three constituent local authorities, business and academia, is working collaboratively to develop a ‘spaces and movement’ supplementary planning document (SPD) for the city centre.

Making Space for People will provide a long-term framework to help guide the decision-making process regarding key streets and open spaces in Cambridge to 2031 and beyond.

The vision for the city centre is that it capitalises on the legacy of the medieval street pattern to create a walkable city, where sustainable travel modes are the most attractive.

Compact cities are about creating a place of ‘short journeys’, where the city can be easily traversed using a mix of walking, cycling and public transport and where ‘modal change’ – where one changes mode of transport – is facilitated and encouraged.

Crucially, this opens up new ways of considering the streets and spaces within the city centre. Reallocation of space in favour of pedestrians will increase footfall capacity in the centre and ease the pressure that various and, sometimes, seemingly competing groups experience when trying to enjoy and use Cambridge.

A step change is needed and the local authorities have already committed to achieving a reduction in general motor vehicle traffic of 10-15 per cent (from a 2011 baseline). The GCP has been exploring a range of complementary ‘carrot and stick’ measures to achieve this fall in private vehicle use and promote more sustainable forms of transport, and will be testing them with the public in 2019. This is no easy task, and previous experience in the city has highlighted the challenges in trying to modify behaviour.

However, understanding and expectations of personal mobility are changing. In a compact city, where cycle trips account for 33% of the modal share, and where car ownership is falling, if a more radical move towards creating a better place for its citizens can’t be made, then what hope is there?

European examples in cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam demonstrate

City centre main uses: ‘hot spots’ Grid © BDP

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 21

NATIONAL INFLUENCE LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Barton Willmore is the UK’s leading planning practice with 13 offices nationwide. Established in 1936, we’ve been in Cambridge for over 25 years.

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Spaces for people

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Open space grid © BDP

Cycle hierarchy grid © BDP

the value of redefining and rethinking space.

The creation of healthy streets and spaces, and its democratisation, are surely important aspirations for a world-class city such as Cambridge.

RE-IMAGINING OUR USE OF SPACE

So, how will the Making Space for People strategy work? It is not possible to implement a rigid set of rules and ideas.

Instead, the strategy can establish and explore how existing city grids of green/open space, walking, cycling, public transport, access, deliveries, and private motor vehicles currently operate, and then make informed decisions about how to ensure that particular grids are improved to favour sustainable travel modes.

THE DESIGNERS

A toolkit to guide the decision-making process is going to be a key output of the strategy. Proposed interventions will need to be tested, and there is strong evidence that temporary – or trial – schemes could play a role in checking the appetite for change or allow quick wins without resorting to expensive and time-consuming public realm projects.

Parklet projects in New York, Car Free Days in Greenwich and Hackney, and, more locally, the Mill Road Winter Fair have demonstrated the value of introducing seating or pop-up uses to activate and reimagine spaces.

Transformations can be permanent or temporary. Temporary can challenge the way people think and make the permanent possible.

The GCP working with the city and county councils has appointed inter-disciplinary design consultancy BDP (www.bdp.com), in collaboration with movement specialists Urban Flow, to support the Making Space for People strategy.

What is crucial is to inform and involve people in the process, including asking traditionally under-represented groups about their ideas and opinions.

Engagement is a significant and important part of the Making Space for People strategy and, through a variety of formats, there has been a pleasing breadth of feedback so far, including from young people. The way in which this ‘next generation’ has been confidently challenging accepted norms has been refreshing.

It is very clear there is consensus for change and, as the late, great Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, said: ‘Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.’

The project is also being supported by Alan Hennessy, an architect-urban designer with more than 30 years’ experience internationally, and Jonathan Brookes, Greater Cambridge Planning Service’s principal urban designer, who has worked on a wide range of projects, including award-winning developments at Great Kneighton.

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 23

MOLE FIJAL HOUSE

© Matt Smith

The Fijal House by Mole Architects is one of the latest one-off homes designed by the practice. Kieran Perkins highlights the importance of the home in the world of architecture and how the design has taken inspiration from local vernacular to articulate a home that responds positively to the surrounding area WORDS: KIERAN PERKINS, ASSOCIATE, 5TH STUDIO

This new family home in Ely is the latest in a series of highly individual homes by Mole Architects. It was designed with support from structural engineer Conisbee and cost consultant Sheriff Tiplady, and constructed

by Salmon Bros. of Ely. The diversity of output from Mole is a pleasure to see among the prevailing buff brick monotony of the emerging ‘New Cambridge Vernacular’, or ‘Accordia-lite’, on the one hand and,on the other, the pastiche ‘developer product’, which can be seen gradually encircling Ely. But how does such idiosyncratic architecture relate to its context?

Mole’s own description of the Fijal House cites Ely Cathedral as the inspiration for the saw-tooth profile of the front elevation and the choice of roof pitch and, I think, these direct references – which, in the hands of a

less sensitive or skilled architect, might feel naff – belie a deeper appreciation of place.

Nicholas Pevsner saw the essence of Englishness in art – in so much as it differs from other traditions – as a concern for ‘line and not body’ and for ‘an atmospheric view of the world, not the firm physical objects within it’, and cited Ely Cathedral as an example of such in The Englishness of English Art (1956). Pevsner identifies certain key fundamental characteristics such as 'simplicity', 'general angularity', 'a surveyable, unmysterious character' – qualities with which this house resonates.

And they are qualities. Windows are large. The bedrooms are lofty, taking up all available space beneath the roof, and with exposed roof beams. The simple layout of the main part of the house is added to with a ‘lean-to’ side bay, a single volume containing

24 | CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE

the stair, from where the whole house opens up. There is an extraordinary sense of space and light, despite the constraints of the site and the relatively modest size of the building.

The street elevation is dematerialised and almost vibrates with the visual effect of the pattern of perpends, and vertical shadows as they play across the elevation.

Sure, there are references to the rich arts and craft-y tile detailing at the entrances of neighbouring properties, and the general massing fits very comfortably within the context but, nonetheless, the building has an austere and ambiguous quality that transcend its immediate surroundings.

Despite this, the house is undoubtedly homely, with timber linings to the dining area and to the cleverly integrated under-stair desk lending warmth – another ecclesiastical motif. The corners of the stair enclosure,

FIJAL HOUSE

76

© Matt Smith © Matt Smith

the built-in desk and the kitchen area – the places where people come closest to the fabric of the building – are curved to accommodate the movement of bodies around them.

The building is practical and flexible, with lots of storage, a generous entrance sequence, and service spaces in the centre of the plan allowing the main living spaces to use the relatively narrow frontages fully.

Opening a sliding door, in combination with a conventional door, allows the snug – the cosy room at the front of the house – to open up to the rest of the ground floor, for example for a party.

This is a new house in an established suburban context, but on a plot that had remained empty since first being laid out about a century ago. The neighbours had grown accustomed to the gap, so the use of rooflights in the central rooms upstairs, and blank flank walls were needed to preserve their privacy.

There is an extraordinary sense of space and light

The building is also in a Conservation Area, and a series of instinctive and, in my view, very successful design judgements – in particular the choice to present the gable end to the street – were, however, resisted by planning officers.

Even when further analysis was presented, demonstrating how this choice was justified in light of the mixed pattern of roof orientation across the neighbourhood, the officers still recommended the project for refusal.

Sense prevailed and the scheme was nonetheless approved, but the question

remains: why under-resourced and overstretched planning departments are wasting time attempting to micromanage the particular, while elsewhere below-par generic development abounds?

Perhaps, we need new procedures to give planning officers the confidence they need to support proposals that go beyond the formulaic and, often, bogus reproduction of adjacent, or supposedly traditional forms?

Judgements such as these can be very subtle and are best made by those with experience and demonstrable design skills.

Maybe then, respected designers could be enlisted to rapidly – and at low cost – peerreview collections of smaller proposals as part of the planning process. They could decide, in discussion with planning officers, which proposals need to be ‘called-in’ in for more detailed assessment in design terms, such as a formal design review, and which – such as the subject of this article – definitely do not.

© Matt Smith

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 25

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GOLDSMITH STREET

76

GOLDSMITH STREET: © R H Partnership

As a scheme of 105 entirely socially rented homes nears completion in Norwich, Patrick Osborne explores the local authority’s inspiring decision to use the Passivhaus standard, which will all but eliminate fuel poverty for occupants. Can other local authorities learn from this example?

WORDS: PATRICK OSBORNE, ARCHITECT AND SUSTAINABILITY LEAD, R H PARTNERSHIP

HISTORY

In 2008, Norwich City Council (NCC) launched an international RIBA design competition for Goldsmith Street, a site just north of the ‘Golden Triangle’, a popular and characterful area of western Norwich. Riches Hawley Mikhail won with a ‘solar scheme’ allowing solar access to each street, while maintaining a sustainable housing density appropriate to the urban context.

The client’s aim was to find a local housing provider to develop the site, but because of the financial crash, the project went on hold. Following the 2011 Localism Act – allowing local authorities to retain the collected rent from housing stock

© Mikhail Riches

in exchange for a share of the national housing debt – NCC was able to raise funds to build themselves.

SUSTAINABILITY

NCC took the decision to build to the Passivhaus standard, a German comfortdriven energy standard with its roots in building physics.

Andrew Turnbull, senior housing development officer at Norwich City Council, explains the initial decision.

‘When we first sat down with Mikhail Riches we had recently visited a couple of Passivhaus schemes, developed by Hastoe Housing Association, and were impressed with the quality, so we asked if Goldsmith Street would be suitable, based on the

CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 27

GOLDSMITH STREET

76

orientation of the dwellings and the solar gain aspect,’ he says.

The decision was based on a number of benefits in social, economic, political and ecological terms.

SOCIAL The health benefits of Passivhaus have been demonstrated on other projects, partly because of the improved air quality and thermal comfort. Energy bills are also reduced, mitigating the issue of fuel poverty.

ECONOMIC The new development will create a direct income for NCC, regenerate the area and upskill local tradespeople in unique and in-demand skill sets.

Fuel poverty is a significant issue in the UK; around 2.5 million households cannot afford their energy bills without falling below the poverty line. Almost all these families live in houses with an energy performance certificate of E or worse.

By building highly insulated and efficient buildings, the future tenants at Goldsmith Street will have a greater chance of avoiding fuel poverty, and will be better off financially.

POLITICAL Norwich, like many local authorities, encourages developers to consider energy consumption with a 10 per cent renewable energy requirement. As the Passivhaus

© Mikhail Riches

standard significantly reduces energy demand compared to the minimum Part L equivalent, the council sees the certification as equivalent to this requirement.

ECOLOGICAL Although the zero carbon target for new homes was repealed in 2015, Norwich had already taken the decision to target the Passivhaus standard. The council’s environmental strategy is to ensure that all new development is highly sustainable, with the authority targeting either Passivhaus or Code for Sustainable Homes level 4. This will also give some future-proofing against overheating in a warming climate, because the rigorous requirements include additional checks that current building regulations do not.

DESIGN © Mikhail Riches

Mikhail Riches began work on the scheme again in 2013, now with a requirement for

28 | CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE

the Passivhaus standard. This would be its first such scheme, but it fitted well for the low energy ‘solar scheme’ design.

James Turner, associate at Mikhail Riches, describes the approach. He says: ‘The masterplan works on a 14m distance between terraces taken from Victorian streets surrounding the site, which allows for front gardens, pavements, on-street parking and carriageway. We felt this streetscape was appropriate despite not conforming to planning overlooking distances, which were overcome through the internal plan arrangements.’

While the standard is a technical one, Mikhail Riches worked hard to ensure the developed design was true to the initial concept. The process required a number of iterations that were tested in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP), the software used for compliance.

As well as meeting Passivhaus requirements, the scheme boasts

GOLDSMITH STREET

76

numerous social design aspects embedded in the masterplan. For instance, all properties, including flats, have their own front door with different colours for easy identification, giving a sense of ownership to the residents, with no communal areas needing maintenance or service charges. Communal gardens between the terraces give protected play space and an opportunity for neighbours to interact.

PROCUREMENT AND CONSTRUCTION

The contractor was procured by a traditional form of contract, a decision promoted by the architect that has led to a number of beneficial outcomes. It has certainly allowed control of quality on site. Local main contractor RG Carter was selected, along with other subcontractors based in the area, to develop and encourage local skill sets.

The construction team has worked well together, delivering the project for £1,875/m2, with total project costs of around £2,200/m2. Although it is difficult to compare with other developments,

© Mikhail Riches

because of the high design quality and material specification, NCC has completed similar building regulations projects at £1,700-£1,800/m2, showing only a small percentage uplift for building to Passivhaus standards.

Innovative solutions have been used to solve a number of issues often considered barriers to the uptake of the Passivhaus standard. Using offsite construction, insulation and airtightness were guaranteed by the timber frame company, thereby reducing the concerns contractors may have about achieving the requirements. The airtightness target, for

© Mikhail Riches

example, is to achieve 0.6 air changes at 50 pascals, which is approximately 10 times that of the building regulations maximum of 10m3/m2hr @50Pa. At Goldsmith Street, three tests were done, so that any remedial work could be completed before the designated airtightness layer was covered up.

THE FUTURE

The scheme is part of a larger number of Passivhaus projects that NCC is developing, which could lead to Norwich becoming the UK’s unofficial Passivhaus capital.

A new development of 172 homes at Rayne Park is under way, with 112 built to Passivhaus standard, with future planned developments likely to require the energy performance standard (or equivalent) as a minimum.

The encouraging message is that the skills, knowledge, and funding to deliver these projects are available, and a number of local authorities, such as Exeter, and housing associations, such as Hastoe, are pushing low energy and comfortable homes as the norm.

The benefits of building low energy, comfortable social housing are now becoming clearer. There is little to stop other urban areas, such as Cambridge or Bury St Edmunds, doing similar.

Thanks go to Andrew Turnbull, senior housing development officer at Norwich City Council, and James Turner, associate at Mikhail Riches, for their assistance.

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CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE | 29

WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON?

76

© Emma Adams Architect

CONTEXTUAL EXTENSION IN NEWNHAM Emma Adams Architect has just completed a two-storey and linear contextual extension to the earliest dwelling in Newnham: Brook Lodge (aka ‘the wisteria cottage’). The diminutive house overlooks the Grantchester water meadows, a location that called for reclaimed bricks and lime mortar in Flemish garden wall bond, recessed jointed at the junction with the original cottage.

Out in Reach, they are building a replacement linear house/barn overlooking Fair Green. It is attached to the end cottage in an 18th-century terrace and will be similarly rendered when complete. It presents a simplified elevation to the green and conceals a highly glazed and more modulated elevation looking south over the large garden and nature reserve behind.

© 5th Studio

CONSULTATION FOR FIRST GREATER CAMBRIDGE GREENWAYS 5th Studio is working with the Greater Cambridge Partnership on the Barton Greenway, an off-road link connecting Barton and Cambridge. It is one route within a wider and developing sustainable travel network of 12 walking and cycling ‘greenways’ within the local area. It is hoped this could form the backbone of a larger, more comprehensive network, which could be built if funding becomes available.

Several public exhibitions took place over the summer and data from this engagement is now being collated. The designs developed will be consulted on in due course.

CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY ON SNELL DAVID’S CONCRETE HOUSE Coille Beag (which means little wood in Gaelic) is a contemporary new-build house designed by Snell David Architects and currently under construction by Seamans Building. The house, of in-situ-cast concrete and timber-frame construction, is set within a small woodland plot in the heart of Whittlesford. Exposed concrete walls, featuring timber board-marked vertical ribs, rise solidly from the earth to form the ground-floor structure, which has been designed to extend through the landscape, capturing natural light and framed views of surrounding trees. In contrast, a lightweight first-floor structure of delicate, blackened-timber cladding floats above the concrete, conjuring notions of a treehouse among the canopies. © Snell David Architects

30 | CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS GAZETTE

WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON?

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NP ARCHITECTS COMPLETES CONTEMPORARY FLINT HOUSE

© NP Architects

NP Architects has just completed this scheme for a new dwelling in the South Cambridgeshire village of Ickleton on a site just outside the village framework. The site was formerly occupied by a mobile home and purchased at auction by the client. The house (300m2 in area) takes its inspiration from the local vernacular. The building is a timber-frame construction. Simple gabledended forms with large areas of glazing are combined with traditional materials, such as flint and untreated oak boarding. The internal spatial arrangement incorporates a doubleheight dining area.

© Allies and Morrison

TWO PASSIVHAUS BUILDINGS FOR KING’S COLLEGE Work has started on site for two new Passivhaus buildings designed by Allies and Morrison, Cambridge office, for King’s College, as part of a new graduate campus in Cranmer Road, West Cambridge. The buildings consist of a garden wing of 40 bedrooms and a new building on Cranmer Road of 19 bedrooms. The development will bring together all King’s graduates, transforming a series of individual hostels into a cohesive campus around a shared garden. Both buildings are designed to achieve an exemplary environmental performance with an ‘all electric’ approach and are set to become the first major development in Cambridge to achieve Passivhaus certification.

© MCW Architects/Jim Stephenson

MCW TRANSFORMS VICTORIAN FARM INTO NEW ARTS SPACE MCW Architects has completed the transformation of a Victorian farm – Stapleford Granary–creating an inspiring space for education, culture, music and the arts. This project has been about creating a home for the ACE Foundation within the precious and characterful setting of the re-energised farm and granary – a place to offer facilities for events and courses, a sustainable working environment for the study tour team and, importantly, a focal point and accessible amenity for the community both locally and regionally. The architects worked with a team of consultants including Smith & Wallwork, KJ Tait, Bremner Partnership, The Landscape Partnership and the contractor TJ Evers.

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