The North West Cambridge Development is a

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

site to the north west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

city centre in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The development is meant to alleviate overcrowding and rising land prices in Cambridge. The first phase resulted from a £350 million investment by the university. The development opened to the public for the Open Cambridge event on 9 September 2017.

Context

The site covers the area between the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960 ...

Madingley Road Madingley Road is a major arterial road linking central Cambridge, England with Junction 13 of the M11 motorway. It passes by West Cambridge, a major new site where some University of Cambridge departments are being relocated. The road is design ...

and Huntingdon Road. The area previously contained farms belonging to the university. Outline

planning permission Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building per ...

for the North-West Cambridge Development or University Farm site was granted in 2013. This covers up to 3,000 dwellings, up to 2,000 student bedspaces, employment floorspace (commercial and academic), retail floorspace, a community centre, health care centre, a primary school and nurseries, a hotel and an energy centre. The development sets out to achieve high levels of sustainability, including many

photovoltaic cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

to gather solar energy, low levels of car use, a district heating network with energy centre scheme, communal waste collection systems, and the recycling of rainwater for irrigation and the flushing of toilets. Architecture practices involved in the development include:

WilkinsonEyre WilkinsonEyre is an international architecture practice based in London, England. In 1983 Chris Wilkinson founded Chris Wilkinson Architects, he partnered with Jim Eyre in 1987 and the practice was renamed WilkinsonEyre in 1999. The practice ha ...

, Mole Architects,

Stanton Williams Stanton Williams is a British architectural design practice based in Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner ...

Mecanoo Mecanoo is an architecture firm based in Delft, Netherlands. Mecanoo was founded in 1984 by Francine Houben, Henk Döll, Roelf Steenhuis, Erick van Egeraat and Chris de Weijer. Foundation Houben, Döll and Steenhuis won a competition to desig ...

, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, RH Partnership,

Marks Barfield Marks Barfield Architects is a London-based architectural firm founded by husband and wife David Marks and Julia Barfield. Their work has included the London Eye, the treetop walkway in Kew Gardens, the i360 observation tower in Brighton, Engla ...

Architects, MUMA, Maccreanor Lavington, and Witherford Watson Mann.

Eddington

''Eddington'' is the name given by developers to a local centre in the North West Cambridge Development, after Cambridge astrophysicist

Arthur Eddington Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944) was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician. He was also a philosopher of science and a populariser of science. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the lumi ...

, who led an expedition to the island of

Príncipe Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census;

to photograph the

solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 A total solar eclipse occurred on Thursday, May 29, 1919. With the duration of totality at maximum eclipse of 6 minutes 50.75 seconds, it was the longest solar eclipse since May 27, 1416. A longer total solar eclipse would later occur on June 8 ...

and verify Einstein's

General Theory of Relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric scientific theory, theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current descr ...

. It is part of Phase I of the North West Cambridge Development, and combines the

Castle Ward A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the northwest of the city with Girton, a parish in the district of

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. ...

. In 2018 a very large

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

was excavated on a site next to the Park & Ride scheme in Eddington. Eddington is centred around Market Square, where there is a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

supermarket. Its one school, the

University of Cambridge Primary School The University of Cambridge Primary School is a three-form primary school in Cambridge, UK. Funded by the local education authority, it is run as a free school by the University of Cambridge and is the first University Training School for prim ...

, was opened in 2015 and occupies a

toroid In mathematics, a toroid is a surface of revolution with a hole in the middle. The axis of revolution passes through the hole and so does not intersect the surface. For example, when a rectangle is rotated around an axis parallel to one of its ...

al building (shaped like a Polo mint) designed by

. The Storey's Field community centre and nursery is adjacent, and was nominated for the 2018

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

; key worker housing completed by Stanton Williams in 2019 was nominated for the 2021 Stirling Prize. Graduate students of

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

are housed at Swirles Court. An energy centre provides a district heating system, while a

sustainable urban drainage system Sustainable drainage systems (also known as SuDS,bioswales to the artificial Brook Leys lake between the site and the M11 motorway. The water is pumped back into homes for washing through a non-potable network. The Fata Morgana

Tea House A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment wh ...

, designed by the German artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Hörbelt, sits on the western bank of Brook Leys lake. Except for the roof, almost the entire two-storey pavilion, including built-in benches, was made from undulating stainless steel welded grating. Depending on light conditions, its polished surfaces can appear shiny or see-through. These photographs were taken in September 2017: cmglee Eddington Bunkers Hill entrance.jpg, Entrance from Bunkers Hill cmglee Eddington main square.jpg, Market square cmglee Eddington power station.jpg, Energy centre cmglee Eddington school front.jpg, Primary school cmglee Eddington Swirles Court.jpg, Swirles Court cmglee Eddington pond.jpg, A pond with Fata Morgana in the distance cmglee Eddington Fata Morgana tea house.jpg, Fata Morgana tea house and Brook Leys cmglee Eddington Fata Morgana artists.jpg, Berthold Hörbelt and Wolfgang Winter in Fata Morgana

Transport

The site is served by the

Whippet The Whippet is a dog breed of medium size. It is a sighthound breed that originated in England, descended from the Greyhound. Whippets today still strongly resemble a smaller Greyhound. Part of the hound group, Whippets have relatively few ...

''Universal'' bus. Madingley Road Park and Ride lies to the south of Eddington. The Ridgeway, a cycle and pedestrian path runs through the site from Girton to

Storey's Way Storey's Way is a mainly residential road, approximately 650 metres to the west of the city centre in Cambridge, England. It falls within the Castle Electoral Ward of Cambridge City Council, and feeds on to the major arterial roads Huntingdo ...

. Eddington has road access to

on its south side and Huntingdon Road on the north-east side.

History

* 2009: Area Action Plan adopted by Cambridge City and

District Councils. This states: **''"North West Cambridge will create a new University quarter, which will contribute to meeting the needs of the wider city community, and which will embody best practice in environmental sustainability."'' * February 2013: Outline planning permission for North West Cambridge development. * June 2014: Name of Eddington announced, in honour of

Sir Arthur Eddington Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944) was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician. He was also a philosopher of science and a populariser of science. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the lumi ...

who lived and worked nearby. Other names announced within North West Cambridge are open spaces Brook Leys and Storey's Field, and residential areas Ridgeway Village and Gravel Hill. * September 2016:

, adjacent to Eddington, is officially opened. This is the first operational unit of the North West Cambridge development. * June 2017: Swirles Court, student accommodation for

, is completed. It is named for

Bertha Swirles Bertha Swirles, Lady Jeffreys (22 May 1903 – 18 December 1999) was an English physicist, academic and scientific author who carried out research on quantum theory in its early days. She was associated with Girton College, University of Cam ...

(Lady Jeffreys), a Girton alumna. * July 2017: the first residents move in to Eddington. * September 2017:

and Argos stores open. Go Whippet bus service U commences services to Eddington. An open day was held at Eddington with speeches from the University Vice-Chancellor Leszek Borysiewicz and local MPs Heidi Allen and Daniel Zeichner.

Future development

Eddington will include 700 residences for key workers at the University, 325 rooms for postgraduate students, the market square with Sainsbury's and local shops, the energy centre, and the health centre, and a hotel. The North West Cambridge Development is planned to eventually contain 3,000 homes, accommodation for 2,000 postgraduate students and of research facilities. The energy centre will be used to produce electricity as demand grows.

References

External links

{{commons category, Eddington, Cambridge
Official site
University of Cambridge sites Geography of Cambridge