Buckley Gray Yeoman’s revised mixed-use Cambridge scheme approved

Cambridge City Council has approved Buckley Gray Yeoman’s reworked plans to create homes and offices on a builders’ merchant site close to Cambridge stationThe council’s planning committee granted consent to the Shoreditch practice’s Devonshire Gardens scheme eight months after refusing an earlier application for the same site.The scheme, for developer Socius and investor Railpen, will feature 70 build-to-rent homes and 11,150m 2 of office space alongside a creche and other facilities.Last December, councillors rejected Buckley Gray Yeoman’s plans for a 100-home development on the railway-side plot after planning officers warned of ‘dominant’ massing and ‘unduly poor’ residential quality.Changes made in the latest application included trimming building heights by up to 5m, removing almost a third of the homes and switching one block from residential to commercial use.The South Petersfield Residents Association objected to the revised plans, citing concerns over the direct sunlight available to single-aspect dwellings facing north and north-west.However, officers decided that ‘on balance’ the proportion of single-aspect units and the level of sunlight received to the flats was ‘acceptable’, adding: ‘The single aspect of some units is partially mitigated by secondary aspect on to balconies.’Officers said the application had addressed concerns over harm to the appearance of the area and would ‘deliver a number of public benefits in terms of new employment floorspace, residential accommodation and community facilities within sustainably designed new buildings; new public realm; and a net gain in biodiversity.’The development will include a new park, designed in collaboration with LDA Design, with more than 120 trees and a community food garden. All buildings on the site ‘which currently contains a Travis Perkins warehouse and yard’ will be demolished to make way for the scheme.Buckley Gray Yeoman said the six-building proposal would create a place for people to live and work within a new neighbourhood that builds on the spirit of the nearby Mill Road neighbourhood.Associate director Justin Holland said: “Our work at Devonshire Gardens builds on the success of our work with Socius at Edward Street Quarter in Brighton, where we led the design of a mixed-use scheme that includes 168 new homes arranged around a central landscaped street and gardens.”˜Devonshire Gardens continues our expertise in providing outstanding places to live and work set within open, public space that prioritises the public realm, landscape and sustainable travel.”