An award winning development comprising of apartment blocks, homes, secondary school and community infrastructure in Cambridge.

Project

Seven Acres

Location

Cambridge

Sector

Education

Residential

About the project

The site formed part of ‘Great Kneighton’ a residential urban extension in Trumpington, Cambridge which extended to some 2,300 homes, including the provision of a primary school, secondary school, and other associated social and community infrastructure.

Services

Project management
Site acquisition

Deliverables

2,300 homes
Primary school
Secondary school
Social and community infrastructure

Design Team

Architects: Formation Architects
Project managers: Studio HIVE
Civil & Structural: Skanska UK
Mechanical Engineers: Skanska UK
QS: Skanska Build UK
Contractors; Skanska UK

Jason led the acquisition of the site whist Director at Skanska Residential; the site was acquired with the benefit of an outline consent for 130 homes. The outline consent for Great Kneighton contained a detailed Design Code which closely followed the principles established by the world class, Sterling Prize winning scheme Accordia, located in Cambridge.

The scheme was made up of 3 apartment blocks and a collection of terrace housing, ranging from 3 beds homes at 1400sq through to 4 bed homes at circa 2,000sqft with and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. With the strong sustainable credentials and ambition of Skanska the project achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 with an individually designed house, built using a SIP panel system, achieving Code Level 5.

The scheme exceeded sales expectations, outperforming both sales values and sales rates of other schemes in the area. The most successful units were the larger 4 bed house which exceeded the ‘per sq. ft’ price of many of the apartments and the competing houses in the area despite being designed with more generous proportions.

The scheme has been critically acclaimed winning a collection of awards including:

  • What House – Gold Award – Best House 2013
  • Blue Ribbon – Ideal Home of the year 2013
  • London Evening Standard – Eco Living Award 2013

Studio HIVE acted on behalf of Skanska Residential to manage the project through to completion. The team acquired the site and gained the detailed planning consent prior to co-ordinating the contractor delivery. This involved managing contractor variations, budget sign off, CML, final unit inspection and handovers. Studio HIVE managed many of the technical aspects of the scheme, dealing with Section Agreements and finding technical resolutions necessary to complete the project.

The site was complete in 2014.