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%.