A hallmark of the Liberal Democrats’ administration at Cambridge City Council was the insistence that the new neighbourhoods created on the southern fringe of the city must be imaginative and distinctive in their design and layout and constructed in a sustainable way using good quality materials. Our colleagues in Trumpington believe that the efforts that were put into getting those aspects of Trumpington’s growth right are bearing fruit.

In 1947 Aneurin Bevan, then Minister for Health with responsibility for housing, announced that his Ministry would be giving annual awards for public housing design and layout. After consultation with RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects, awards committees were set up for each of the then four English regions. In 1960, the scheme was reconstituted as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government Good Design in Housing Awards, sponsored jointly with the RIBA. The new scheme covered both private and public sector housing. In 1981 the NHBC joined the DoE and the RIBA as sponsors, to create the Housing Design Awards. In recent years there has been an emphasis on the role of local authorities in helping to bring forward good quality housing. Since 2005 the planning authority has been recognised alongside the developers, architects and contractors to reflect this.

Cambridge is strongly represented in the shortlist for the 2014.
In the category for already completed projects, the north and south of the ward are in contention, as the ‘Abode’ development on the Showground site north of Shelford Road, designed by Proctor & Matthews faces competition from other developments, including ‘Ceres’ on the CB1 site, designed by Pollard Thomas Edwards..

In the ‘project stage’ category Bovis Homes ‘Clay Farm Phase 2’ development has been short-listed. In this category there’s competition from another southern fringe project, the Queen Edith’s “Bell School” site, designed by PRP Architects.

Contemporary design may not be to everyone’s taste, of course, but these nominations underline the fact that we really have secured high-quality design on the southern fringe.

Next up, “The Quad”, the first major new development of Council Housing in the City for many years. An application for planning permission is expected this month.

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