University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, FacadeUniversity Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, FacadeUniversity Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, FacadeUniversity Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Interior Photography, Windows, FacadeUniversity Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - More Images+ 13

  • Client: North West Cambridge Development
  • Structural, Mechanical And Electrical Engineer: URS
  • Acoustic, Building Physics And Fire Safety Consultant: URS
  • Cost Consultant: Gardiner & Theobald
  • City: Cambridge
  • Country: United Kingdom
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University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade
Courtesy of Mecanoo

Text description provided by the architects. The North West Cambridge Development (NWCD) transforms a 150-hectare site of University of Cambridge farmland into a community with residential buildings, academic facilities, public amenities, and open green space. Mecanoo worked alongside NWCD to deliver 232 affordable housing units for researchers and key university employees.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade
Courtesy of Mecanoo

New layer. Cambridge is a city contextualised through the layering of architectural inventions over the centuries. This has resulted in a unique composition of urban space, architecture and landscape. Mecanoo’s design adds a new layer to this, building upon the rich traditions and collegiate character of Cambridge.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade
Courtesy of Mecanoo
University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Image 18 of 18
Elevations
University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade, Concrete
Courtesy of Mecanoo

Public-private. To create a strong sense of community the relationship between the public and private realm has been carefully reconsidered. The characteristic Cambridge variation of enclosed and open spaces, alternating between formal and informal groupings of buildings, is a departure point for the design that activates the courtyards and creates different connections between the dwellings and the communal area.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography
© Greg Holmes

Courtyards. The two internal courtyards with lawn, flower fields, raised decks, planters, fruit trees, and urban furniture are sheltered by galleries forming covered outside community spaces. Apartments are grouped around spacious central halls flooded with daylight, all leading to the courtyards.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Greg Holmes
University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Image 16 of 18
Ground floor plan
University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade, Door
© Greg Holmes

Communal identity. The central building is the visual and communal focal point of the development and acts as a spine to the site. Covered exterior space in the heart of the development forms a modern interpretation of the Cambridge colonnades and arcades. Locating the community facilities along the public route through the block facilitates the development of a communal identity, whilst reaffirming that sense of being part of a much larger academic collective.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Interior Photography, Windows, Facade, Beam
Courtesy of Mecanoo
University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Interior Photography, Windows, Facade
© Greg Holmes

Sustainability. The design complies with Code For sustainable Homes Level 5. This was achieved by creating compact, efficient volumes with high-performance Fabric Energy Efficiency, good internal daylight performance, bespoke assisted natural ventilation for night-time cooling, a large array of PV cells on the roofs, district heating, a site-wide rainwater attenuation strategy including a greywater system and collective gardens that increase the biodiversity.

University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo - Exterior Photography, Facade, Garden
© Greg Holmes

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Project location

Address:The Old Schools, Trinity Ln, Cambridge CB2 1TN, United Kingdom

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "University Key Worker Housing / Mecanoo" 29 Apr 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/938636/university-key-worker-housing-mecanoo> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of Mecanoo

剑桥大学教职工公寓,社区共同体的建构 / Mecanoo

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