Ashwell submits revised Cambridge CB1 plans

Paul Thwaites’ Ashwell has submitted scaled back plans for its £800m CB1 development in Cambridge. The masterplan, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, proposes 1.7m sq ft of development on 26 acres. It represents a 20% reduction in floorspace from the original plans, which were rejected in 2006. Ashwell is proposing 580,000 sq ft of grade A offices, 625,000 sq ft of housing, a 120-bed hotel, an upgraded station and new transport interchange, a public square, and community, retail and leisure uses. The developer will submit a series of detailed applications for buildings around the CB1 site throughout the year. In November, Ashwell won consent for the first phase of the project, Twenty 1 Station Road, an 80,000 sq ft redevelopment of the existing Great Eastern House. The locally-based firm first submitted masterplan applications for CB1 in November 2004. The plans were rejected on the grounds of density, the project’s lack of a suitable transport interchange, and its perception that a 10-storey, 400,000 sq ft tower at its heart bore no relationship to the buildings around it. Despite initially saying it would appeal the decision, Ashwell subsequently went back to negotiations with the council. In January of 2007 Sven Topel was enlisted from Hammerson to become group development and investment director at Ashwell, overseeing the project. daniel.cunningham@rbi.co.uk