Cambridge, like so many towns and cities in the UK has evolved around water. The River Cam has been the spine of the city for over 1000 years.
Red area indicates University Library and my neighbouring site.I learnt that my site is within the heritage/protected area of Cambridge (green areas, below) so my design would need to meet a number of criteria before it could be built... the legislation mainly listed materiality. Locally sourced, vernacular materials are important to new buildings in Cambridge. Modern buildings have the same material palette as buildings 100 years old but are buit in a much more contemporary way.
The material palette of Cambridge is mainly brick (various/red & dutch), stone (mainly limestone), timber (I noticed oak, birch and cedar when I was walking around Cambridge) and concrete (internal and external).
I found the nearest brick quarry, in Barrington, about 10 miles from the site:
... and the nearest timber merchants, which use timber from sustainably sourced forests just west of London. They specialise in Beech, Holly, Hornbeam and Oak.
Really beautiful masterplans...what software did you use?
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