Old Press/Mill Lane

Redevelopment of the Old Press/Mill Lane site located in the historic core of Cambridge to deliver a high-quality, permeable city quarter with improved education and recreational facilities, new retail and food offering, and an enhanced public realm.

Working with the masterplan architects, Allies & Morrison, Scotch Partners developed framework energy and framework sustainability strategies for the site. This involved a series of workshops with the main project stakeholders – University of Cambridge, Queen’s College, Darwin College and Pembroke College – in order to discuss and agree a collective set of sustainability and energy principles.

The diversity of the existing building stock, both in quality and significance, mean redevelopment can only be achieved through a combination of new build and refurbishment, of which there could be varying levels. To ensure that opportunities for incorporating sustainability and energy efficiency measures into the building design are explored at every level, both strategies adopted a tiered approach to categorising the main levels of refurbishment; these being Replace, Remodel, Refurbish, or Refresh.

Scotch also developed a suite of sustainability and energy ‘Design Codes’ to be included within the framework strategies that set design standards for the buildings, landscape and public realm that form the OPML masterplan. The Codes define the key sustainability aspirations and future identity of the site, ensuring that the masterplan is delivered responsibly and cohesively.