A scheme to upgrade student accommodation at Trinity
College has won the title of ''Best Conservation, Alteration
or Extension of an Existing Building'' at Cambridge's 2015
Design and Construction Awards.
Beacon Planning were appointed to the project team at
an early stage to advise 5th Studio architects on heritage
issues affecting the scheme to significantly upgrade
student accommodation in Trinity College's Grade I Listed
New Court.
New Court is part of the main Trinity College site in the
historic centre of Cambridge, and is located within both a
Grade II Registered Park and Garden and the Historic Core
Conservation Area. It has served the college as an
accommodation block since its construction in the early
C19, but by the C21 required extensive refurbishment to
enable its continuing use.
In order to respect the existing heritage assets, a fully
collaborative approach was taken across the consultant
teams and statutory authorities, ensuring that the site
continued to contribute to the heritage value of the wider
area. At Planning Committee the need for listed buildings
to be adapted in order to continue in use was
acknowledged.
The design was driven by a desire to preserve and
enhance the historic environment combined with high-
quality sustainability objectives. Measures including the
installation of internal insulation, mechanical ventilation
and heat recovery, and installation of slimlite glazing are
anticipated to reduce significantly the annual carbon
footprint of the building.
Environmental monitoring and fabric analysis was
undertaken during the design development period in
order to ensure that the proposals posed a low risk to the
existing buildings. The environmentally friendly and
sustainable scheme, described by the judging panel as
''fantastic'', could reduce energy consumption by 75%,
and save carbon emissions by over 85%.