From Military Legacy To Lakeside Living: The Evolution Of Waterbeach Barracks
Urban&Civic submitted a bold plan to utilize 715 acres of brownfield land at Waterbeach Barracks to build a massive mixed-use community. The village north of Cambridge is a former airfield and barracks where the original control tower and many hangars are still present. The site is three miles from the science and business parks that are forming a vibrant and successful biotech hub. With the burgeoning employment in that industry, the area needs more homes and facilities.
The planning application is for up to 6,500 homes, including up to 600 units of care home use; three primary schools; up to 97K SF of community space such as multi-purpose community centres, nurseries, libraries, places of worship and a museum; sports and fitness centres; up to 178K SF of retail space; offices, research and development and light industrial units to support existing business parks; a 43K SF lakeside hotel; and a range of infrastructure improvements and investments.
The government’s recent housing white paper emphasized the importance of making the best use of previously developed land to build houses within existing settlements and where people most want and need to live. Urban&Civic CEO Nigel Hugill said Waterbeach represents precisely the approach envisaged in the white paper. Hugill also said the science and business parks are famous the world over but commuting from the south of Cambridge to these expanding employment hubs is just too tough at peak times. More people are having to live in the same amount of space.
Urban&Civil is developing plans to allow people to live near work and ensure transport options to get people out of their cars and onto cycles and public transport. “That is how modern city regions operate,” Hugill said.
Architecture firm Fletcher Priest is responsible for the design, which the company said grew from thorough research into the existing site and its broader context — from converting the runway into a linear park to preserving and enhancing local natural habitats and re-establishing a medieval causeway that links to a nearby Benedictine abbey.
The development will add two access points onto the A10, and the application also provides for a new Park and Ride facility. The developers are working with the A10 Transport Corridor Study to ensure the development is rolled out alongside investment in the road, bus, rail and cycle network, which are all due to be upgraded along this important growth corridor for the country.
Urban&Civic is committing nearly £15M of investment to early cycle and bus connections and to support improvements to the local rail station, ahead of a significant contribution toward the final Milton Interchange/A14/A10 strategic improvements.
