Cambourne was a projected new village in Cambridgeshire, on 400 acres of agricultural land 14 km east of Cambridge, planned and approved to relieve the pressure on Cambridge and its green belt. An outline consent for the scheme was granted in 1994 and the masterplan published in 1995. Planning permission for the final scheme was granted in 1996 and construction began in 1998.
The final masterplan was created by Terry Farrell & Partners. The masterplan divided development into 10 distinct phases with defined numbers of house quotas per phase, along with phased incorporation of access routes, schools, convenient retail establishments and infrastructure facilities. However the architectural style was deliberately pluralist, and seven firms of architects contributed to different parts of the scheme, including CZWG, Weston Williamson, Robert Adam, and Panter Hudspith. The plan created 3300 homes, a third of which would be social housing, plus schools, shops, offices, a church, library, and manor house hotel.
The scheme responded to both landscape and environmental factors, and a published landscape assessment demonstrated how the firm had determined the suitability of different parts of the site for development and areas of landscape of greatest potential as open space.
Construction Partners:
Building Company: Countryside Properties PLC