A alternative life-science building with humanism and soul. As a socially vibrant research hub this combination of laboratories and workplace sits materially as an extension of the natural landscape fracturing the line between interior and exterior, high tech and passive tech.

This new development builds upon the successful and sensitive renovation of the Grade II listed Old Mill House at Hauxton Mill. The second phase occupies an adjacent vacant, prepared brownfield site with designated use, providing much-needed laboratory accommodation for scientific innovation as part of a wider campus of buildings set within the natural landscape of the Mill and the River Cam.

The new building has been designed with four distinct elevations, each sensitive and responsive to the specific site context. Located within a new volume house-builder estate, the proposals carefully acknowledge the potential impact on nearby residents. Light spill, noise, overshadowing and overlooking were key considerations, with the building form developed to visually reduce perceived scale, mass and volume as far as possible.

This new development builds upon the successful and sensitive renovation of the Grade II listed Old Mill House at Hauxton Mill. The second phase occupies an adjacent vacant, prepared brownfield site with designated use, providing much-needed laboratory accommodation for scientific innovation as part of a wider campus of buildings set within the natural landscape of the Mill and the River Cam.

The new building has been designed with four distinct elevations, each sensitive and responsive to the specific site context. Located within a new volume house-builder estate, the proposals carefully acknowledge the potential impact on nearby residents. Light spill, noise, overshadowing and overlooking were key considerations, with the building form developed to visually reduce perceived scale, mass and volume as far as possible.

Equally, the design responds to the heritage architecture of both Hauxton House and Hauxton Mill and their natural setting. The proposals extend the carefully designed English gardens introduced around Hauxton House to form a larger ‘college quad’. This enhanced area of biodiversity reinforces the primary point of arrival into the campus and centralises the entrance gates and driveway within a usable green ‘set-piece’ space between the historic and proposed new buildings.

The site is also bordered by a busy A-road, and the longest elevation has been deliberately oriented to address this condition. It is intended to confront and take advantage of the passing traffic, acting as a visible billboard and public face for the scientific campus.

As a point of contrast, the building also seeks to draw the natural landscape of the Mill, its waterways and surrounding public footpaths into the harder landscape of roads and driveways within the new housing estate. The design is intended to appear as if it grows from the ground, with rammed earth walls embedding the building within its setting and providing a counterpoint to the typically high-tech materials associated with scientific research buildings.

Cost-effective, high-speed and low-impact construction methods, together with low energy consumption, zero-carbon aspirations and natural ventilation, are central to the ethos of both the client and building.

This project is currently being prepared for submission to the local authority as a pre-application planning proposal.