Stanhope reveals £50m IT hub plan for Cambridge office

Developer Stanhope has revealed £50m plans for Kett House in Cambridge. The developer, which has turned down the potential of bringing lab building to the site, said the location is beginning to mature as an IT space within the city fringe. It is looking to demolish the existing 35,881 sq ft building to pave the way for a 172,223 sq ft grade-A office block capable of accommodating up to 1,000 people, with retail space on the ground floor. The development, which is proposed to feature a timber frame, will seek to achieve BREEAM Outstanding certification. The site previously served as offices for law firm Eversheds Sutherland and was acquired by Aviva Investors in 2017 for £21.6m. It sits at the junction between Station Road and Hills Road, and opposite the Botanic Place site, which is set to be transformed into a £500m campus-style development. The decision to knock down the building comes amid “very tight floor-to-floor heights, which make an extensive refurbishment very difficult”, according to Peter Fisher, director at Bennetts Associates, the architects behind the scheme. Fisher said: “We’re faced with a binary choice between a very light refurb and a demolition and rebuild. The mid-point between those two is not feasible because of the relatively weak structure, which would involve a lot of strengthening and underpinning of the building to get any value out of it. “We’re going to demolish and to replace the building. That has a lower overall life cycle carbon impact than a very light refurb would have because of the ongoing operational energy that the building would have.” Stanhope has also proposed to redevelop the public realm to the south of Station Road. The plans include pulling the new building lines back to create up to 15,000 sq ft of public space. It will launch the first consultation round later this month ahead of submitting a planning application to the Cambridge City Council in September. Laura Collins, senior development director at Stanhope, said: “Our core value is creating spaces that stand the test of time, and this is represented in the scheme that we’re putting forward today.” Bidwells is advising Stanhope on planning matters. Image: Bennetts Associates