News

Best project win for planning team at East of England awards night

22.6.23 2 minute read

Our Planning team picked up Best Project at the East of England Awards for Planning Excellence held at a glittering ceremony at Hatfield House last night.

A selection of photos from the evening

The RTPI East of England Awards for Planning Excellence is given to outstanding planners, plans and projects in the Eastern region of England.  

Our planners picked up Best Project for its work on Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, a new accommodation block providing student rooms, social spaces, and a café.

Our work for 3 and 4 Station Square, Cambridge, was also highly commended in the Excellence in Planning for a Successful Economy category.  

Guy Kaddish, Head of Cambridge Planning and Bidwells’ lead on the Lucy Cavendish accommodation project, said: 

“The college’s new building has been designed to facilitate integration across their increasingly diverse student body and foster an engaged, inclusive, and welcoming community to reach out to those groups underrepresented in higher education.

It was important to the college to create a future-proof building that is low energy and low carbon and can also be easily expanded in response to their growth.”

The judges' said...

This project overcame notable challenges, such as to do with planning in a conservation area and the demolition of two notable heritage assets.

It is a testament to the strength of the partnership between the College and the local planning authority, fostered by Bidwells, that the upgraded student rooms, café, dining, and social teaching space have been completed.

Part of Cambridge’s CB1 development, 3 and 4 Station Square provides a place for people to work, live, shop and socialise. The combination of landmark buildings and new landscaped square provide an appropriate greeting for the 15 million people using Cambridge train station.

The regional winners will now be going forward to compete in the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence national awards, with all category finalists being announced on October 9.

The national awards ceremony will take place on 21 November 2023 in London.