A number of different building and housing typologies have been designed to respond to their local context or play specific roles within the new neighbourhood. Sitting within both the ‘Town’ and ‘City’ character areas of Marleigh, the dwellings are designed to reflect their surroundings. The City area is characterised by apartments, whilst the Town features a mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached houses set within a series of mews streets, lanes and community spaces. This diversity is to create a distinct neighbourhood in line with the Marleigh Design Code and wayfinding as you move through the community. Adding to this richness, an eclectic selection of bricks with varying colours and textures brings a playful charm to the streetscape, offering engaging moments of architectural interest.
Community amenities will include a small commercial space and additional facilities that complement the existing Marleigh neighbourhood. The Austin building will sit in the landscaped setting of Beta Park with the formal urban square – Beta Square – providing an active frontage and spill out space for community activities, events and a café. The project also involves enhancements to the cycle and pedestrian connections to Cambridge City Centre, Cambridge North Station, Fen Ditton, the countryside and National Cycle Route 51.
At the planning committee, JTP was praised by Cambridge council officers for our design led approach, ability to improve on the outline application by replacing planned roads with green spaces and the quality of the proposed architecture.