RHP completes student block for Cambridge college

RHP has completed a student accommodation block for Girton College, Cambridge.

The 325-bedroom building is in Eddington, the new £350 million town centre which will form part of the North-West Cambridge development being built by the university.

Other architects working on the £1 billion scheme include Alison Brooks, Stanton Williams, Cottrell & Vermeulen, the AOC, Proctor & Matthews and Sarah Wigglesworth.

RHP’s graduate complex is the first completion of many scheduled for this year at the new 150ha site.

Swirles Court is named after mathematician and physicist Bertha Swirles (aka Lady Jeffreys), a Girton graduate, fellow and benefactor.

With a construction value of £26 million, it was built by Graham Construction and contains shared kitchen, study and social facilities as well as 325 ensuite bedrooms.

Swirles Court is linked to the site-wide sustainable urban drainage system, the largest water recycling network in the country, and to the district heating system and an underground waste storage system.

It has solar shading screens to prevent overheating in summer and perforated window surrounds to allow natural ventilation. 

Students, who will be encouraged to use the complex’s allotments, will have secure bike parking and direct access to a key cycle route.

Neighbouring Girton - which will lease the building - is the first Cambridge college to establish a base in Eddington which will have 3,000 homes (for private sale and rent to university and college key workers), 2,000 student rooms, 100,000sq m of research facilities, a community centre, shops and a primary school.

Heather Topel, project director for the North West Cambridge development, said: “Swirles Court will be part of a new sustainable urban community featuring green open spaces, facilities and amenities such as local shops and a community centre, all linked by strategic cycle routes to promote connectivity to Cambridge centre and beyond.

“To future-proof the university’s position on the global stage as a research leader we need to provide an inspiring, sustainable place for our people to live and thrive.”