Anstey Way, Trumpington, Cambridge

Anstey Way was the first of five projects for the Partnerships. This under-utilised parcel of land comprised 16 bungalows and an apartment building of 12 sub-standard bedsit flats built in the 1950’s.

Rock Townsend were commissioned to design 44 new homes for general needs rent comprising one and two bedroom apartments. A number of early options were developed to test the capacity of the site but it was the ‘perimeter block’ concept that exceeded the brief, addressed the physical constraint of the site and could deliver the most robust and sustainable development.

The proposed density challenged the local authorities own aspirations and policies however with perseverance the 56 new one, two and three bedroom homes, arranged around a communal courtyard garden was welcomed by the Development Committee. With 12 additional homes achieved, the development was able to reinstate some of the existing independent retirement living that would have otherwise been relocated.

By demonstrating policy compliance and meeting Cambridge City Council’s (CCC) design guidance and stringent cycle storage demands the higher density was recommended for approval by the planning officer and granted planning consent in the Spring of 2018.

Working with the Council’s Urban Design Team we were able to create a ‘masterplan’ and a form and massing that was a direct response to the adjoining streets and neighbouring building. The 11 apartment buildings, each individually identifiable, all address the four perimeter road activating and animating the street scene. The Urban Design Team sought to ensuring the proposed scale and grain reflected the neighbourhood and that articulation of elevations and the need for ‘sky gaps’ between building was reflected the suburban character and guaranteed no street was dominated by a single built form.

Two and three storey apartment buildings were separated by single storey cycle and bin storage maintaining the perimeter block and sense of enclose from with yet allowed glimpses and vistas through the site and of the courtyard itself.

The composition or organisation of the perimeter buildings was a pragmatic one. General needs rented apartments occupy the majority of the site whilst the independent retirement living apartments are located to the north of the site. With their own secure communal courtyard garden and dedicated cycle and mobility scooter parking the 12 apartments, over 2 storey are access via two cores with the majority of homes facing south overlooking the garden.