Terry Farrell and Partners

Terry Farrell and Partners' reputation is often perceived on the basis of work in London in the late 1980s on the evidence of the three completed projects at Embankment Place, Alban Gate and Vauxhall Cross. It is possibly not widely recognised that the work of the practice from the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s has orientated towards a broader range of commissions public and civic building projects which include exhibition and conference buildings, museums, arts and library buildings, retail and the design of transportation interchange projects and railway related developments.

Terry Farrell and Partners was established in 1965. The practice has offices in London, Edinburgh and Hong Kong, and has gained considerable experience with a broad range of projects including offices, residential, retail, leisure, industrial buildings and infrastructure works. Many of these have been large, high profile and complicated projects demanding the full breadth of design, management and organisational skills for private clients, corporations and public bodies including transport authorities, local and national government departments and joint ventures. In addition to building projects, Terry Farrell and Partners have a considerable reputation in the area of planning and masterplans have been designed and completed for a number of major sites in the UK, Europe and the Far East.

Recent UK commissions have included a major masterplan design for Keele University with design guidelines for the expansion of the University as a sustainable development integrated with the existing campus buildings and circulation patterns..Possibly the most significant commission to act as a model for sustainable development in future projects is the Cambourne Masterplan described in more detail.

Proposed layout for Cambourne
A Business Park
B Village Centre
C Village 1
D Village 2
E Village 3

Ideas for the open village square in the settlement centre

Settlement centre looking south

Cambourne

Terry Farrell and Partners were appointed by Alfred McAlpine Homes East Ltd to prepare a masterplan and design guidelines for a new settlement in Cambridgeshire for 3,000 homes, a new settlement centre and a 50 acre business park. Outline planning consent had been granted for the site, located 8 miles west of Cambridge within an area of significant landscape with a substantial frontage onto the A428.

The masterplan submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council for approval, seeks to establish a layout for "three villages" in harmony with the rural setting, to create an identity for each residential area. The three villages are located on the higher ground enabling the existing river valleys to establish a landscape framework for an ecological park, golf course and recreation spaces.

The centre of Cambourne is focused around a high street which links the three villages at the heads of the valleys, and accommodates a range of public buildings, including two schools, church, health centre, community centre, village store, police station and fire station.

A multipurpose leisure centre provides a wide variety of facilities, including football, hockey, cricket, tennis, rugby and golf, Bowling greens and cricket pitches on each village green complement the recreational provision. Informal recreation is incorporated through the new woodlands and a network of-footpaths, cycleways and bridleways.

Open water is featured in the valleys and surface water attenuation lakes alleviate the risk of flooding to neighbouring areas. Ponds and marshy areas enhance the ecological framework. Reed beds provide filtration for the cleansing of surface water.

Extensive fieldwork has identified the range of existing flora and fauna. Provision has been made for their protection and the creation of new habitats.

A primary objective for the development of Cambourne embodied in the masterplan is to achieve sustainability. The Cambourne masterplan will facilitate the creation of low energy buildings and introduce new ideas for using a biomass energy supply utilising local farms to provide coppicing.

Conservation of energy in relation to journeys within, to and from the site is respected and movement by foot, bicycle and other non-vehicular forms has been facilitated. Public transport connections to the wider area with an efficient routing through the site have been established. Motor vehicles have been adequately provided for but that provision is not to be dominant in the plan.

Development of the masterplan will be shaped by design guidelines to ensure it occurs in a manner that respects traditional English settlement patterns for villages and market towns.

The design approach for Cambourne will not be mono-stylistic and to test initial ideas a two day design workshop was attended by representatives of the project team and seven other architectural practices.

It is envisaged that construction work will commence in late 1995, with the first homes available for occupation in summer 1996, At an approximate build rate of 200 homes per year, Cambourne will take 15 years to complete.#

Terry Farrell and Partners
17 Hatton Street
London NW8 8PL
Tel: 0171 258 3433
Fax: 0171 723 7059