Guest article – Socius

Devonshire Gardens is a new sustainable neighbourhood, coming soon to the heart of Cambridge, that will deliver 120,000 sq ft of wellbeing-focused workspace and 70 Build-to-Rent homes set in a new public park.

This summer, Cambridge City Council granted planning permission for the site of the Travis Perkins depot on Devonshire Road to be transformed into a new vibrant sustainable neighbourhood by mixed-use developer Socius and Railpen, the investment manager for the £37 billion railways pension schemes. The sustainable vision, designed by Buckley Gray Yeoman, will transform the three-acre site into Devonshire Gardens, bringing much needed new homes, workspace, a public park and community facilities including; a creche, pavilion and flexible community space. Net zero workspace will be delivered across two new buildings designed to meet the needs of corporates and fast-growing businesses in the Cambridge ecosystem, providing a range of flexible floorplates and adaptable spaces for collaboration. The new homes will comprise of a mix of apartments, with 20 per cent affordable in line with local policy. The homes are designed to meet the city’s net-zero carbon ambitions and will be powered by electricity from renewable sources with no reliance on fossil fuels. The buildings will be connected by a green public park featuring over 120 trees, hundreds of new plant species and a community food garden. The scheme will also create new walkways and cycle paths, improving connectivity to Cambridge rail station and supporting the vision for Devonshire Gardens to be a majority car-free neighbourhood. Devonshire Gardens will be delivered in accordance with the One Planet Living principles and will increase biodiversity on the site by over 350 per cent. Utilising the Natural Cambridgeshire toolkit, the development has been designed to support Cambridge City Council’s Climate Change Strategy.

Once completed, Devonshire Gardens will meet the need for high quality workspace and homes, delivering over 1,500 jobs and generating in excess of £100m worth of social value. Socius and Raipen would like to thank the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce and fellow members for being so supportive throughout our journey so far. Also engaged throughout were Cambridge City Council and a number of local charities and community organisations, including Cambridge Sustainable Food, Allia and Indie Cambridge. Here is what some of these organisations, as well as local residents, kindly said about our plans: “At present both paths on either side of Devonshire Road are far too narrow for the amount of people walking to and from the station. The introduction of this scheme and the additional parallel footpath will improve the walk (both ease and safety) to the station.”

Resident in Stourton Street, CB1 “YMCA Trinity Group also supports the opportunities for young people to take part of this exciting new scheme. We also feel the developer is genuinely engaging with local charities like us.”

“The development also incorporates a range of sustainability features to help address the climate crisis, including green transport initiatives (such as an EV Club & cycle hub), enhanced biodiversity (including tree planting & space for wildlife) and a community garden.” “We are pleased to see the commitment to sustainable community and charity involvement, as well as creating a community that embraces both biodiversity and sustainability, whilst sensitively turning this brown field site, into an attractive space which will support housing, offices and various community amenities and green spaces.”

“Devonshire Gardens is clearly innovative and community minded, and has allocated a space for a Library of Things in their plans. This, along with several other proposed community amenities, is clear evidence of just how well the proposed development addresses urgent local needs and contributes to future-proofing Cambridge’s communities.” To find out more about Devonshire Gardens visit: http://www.devonshiregardenscambridge.com/