Architects
Freeland Rees Roberts Architects of Cambridge
have today announced that their design for a new building at Cripps
Court, Magdalene College has successfully secured planning approval.
The new student housing block, which will provide 16 ensuite
bedrooms and a Fellows flat, is to be built facing onto Hertford
Street in central Cambridge. The first phase of Cripps Court, also
designed by Freeland Rees Roberts Architects, was completed in
November 2005.
Cripps Court currently comprises a state of the art auditorium for
150 people, teaching and seminar rooms and dining, exhibition and
gallery spaces arranged around a landscaped courtyard. Two Victorian
villas in Chesterton Road were also refurbished as part of the
original development and are linked to the courtyard by a new
entrance building and landscaped forecourt.
The original plans for Cripps Court also included a first floor
gymnasium over ground floor changing rooms facing onto Hertford
Street with a sports hall behind. However, the College decided that
the provision of student accommodation would be a more sensible use
of its resources and therefore asked Freeland Rees Roberts to
produce new designs for the site.
The new student accommodation has been designed to fit within the
same ‘envelope’ as that originally intended for the gymnasium and
sports hall, being of similar height and footprint. To retain the
character of the existing Cripps Court buildings, matching materials
have been chosen which include clay pantiles, handmade buff brick,
stone dressings and oak windows. The only exception will be the roof
of the building overlooking Hertford Street, which will have a
natural slate roof as originally intended for the gymnasium it
replaces.
Graham Riley, Director of Freeland Rees Roberts Architects,
commented: “As this new building replaces elements of the original
plans for Cripps Court, we have designed it to harmonise both
aesthetically and functionally with the existing buildings. We
believe this development will complete Cripps Court in a wholly
sympathetic way and will improve the frontage to Hertford Street
which, since the days of the ice cream factory, has been poorly
served by this site.”
Steven Morris, Senior Bursar of Magdalene College, commented: “We
are delighted that this second phase of Cripps Court has secured
planning approval as the student accommodation is a much needed
facility. Freeland Rees Roberts Architects’ expertise has helped to
realise our ambitions to provide first class student accommodation
and professional conference facilities well into the future.”
Construction of the new student building is expected to begin within
the next two years.
Graham Riley is the director and project architect for a diverse
range of schemes, including new libraries for King’s College and
Trinity Hall, offices for Hobsons Publishing in Bateman Street, new
buildings for Emmaus, conservation work and private residential
homes. Graham has also recently completed the renovation of his own
late 1960’s Colt timber kit house in Cambridgeshire with a new, two
storey extension to the existing cedar timber framed building.
Other recent projects Freeland Rees Roberts Architects have been
involved with include the refurbishment of National Trust Picture
Galleries at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire; the conservation and
relocation of Temple Bar to Paternoster Square, City of London
(which has been awarded seven architectural awards in the past two
years); the refurbishment and expansion of the University of
Cambridge’s Department of Architecture and the redecoration of
period buildings in Magdalene Street, Cambridge.
Email:
martin@carismacommunications.co.uk
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Editor's Note: Freeland Rees Roberts Architects
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Freeland Rees Roberts Architects - New student accommodation
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