Kett House, Cambridge

Key Design Ambitions

The site sits within a designated Area of Major Change and an Opportunity Area and forms a focal point at the junction between Cambridge Railway Station and the City Centre. The aspiration is to create a highly sustainable development that will provide best in class workspaces with high quality amenities and complementary mixed uses at ground floor. The design is for a 7-storey building with mixed use commercial space on the ground floor with 6 above ground floors used for office accommodation.

DESIGN RISK MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES TO MITIGATE / COMMUNICATE & MANAGE:

Various challenges exist for the Principal Contractor to manage. Examples of such include the following:

Presence of asbestos within the existing building and the associated removal works.
Demolition of existing buildings within a tightly bound site flanked by public highways and neighbouring buildings.
Construction planning and logistics management given the heavily constrained immediate surroundings.
Tightly constrained site – particularly at the south-east and east boundary where there is a 1.5m corridor for construction between the building perimeter and site boundary.
Lifting operations – especially crane sluing.
The site resides within the New Town and Glisson Road Conservation Area and is adjacent to several non-designated heritage assets most notably the terraces immediately adjoining the site.

From a design perspective, several challenges and design risks also exist which need to be eliminated or mitigated. Examples of such include the following:

Plant location, layout and replacement strategy.
Access for maintenance strategy.
Fire strategy.
Façade replacement strategy.
Roof (terrace and main roof) access and edge protection.
Soft landscaping, including to the roof garden.
Drainage strategy for water run-off from planting within roof terraces.
Car park design.

Kett House, Cambridge

Project Team