The Time and the Place Launch 4th Anniversary Message
The past year of pandemic and lockdowns has brought severe changes to the life of the College – alas. We all long for the day when the College can once again be alive with the noise and bustle of students and Fellows (and indeed alumni) gathering, talking, sharing ideas and enthusiasms, dining and socialising together. Hopefully, not too long hence!
One thing has, mercifully, been able to continue unabated during the past year; and that is all the preparatory work for the Mill Lane development. The drawing-up of plans, the engineering drawings, the landscape plans, the cost analysis: all of this has, thank goodness, been able to proceed remotely. A seemingly endless succession of Zoom meetings has taken us through all the necessary planning and decision-making. And we are now in a very good position to start the physical work on site.
We divided the site into two phases; and Phase 1, which is the eastern half of the site, everything from the Trumpington Street frontage back to, and including, what used to be known as Stuart House, went out to tender with our four chosen contractors in the autumn. The four contractors were Barnes, Cocksedge, Gilbert Ash, and SDC. The prices submitted by the tenderers do appear to be very competitive – one of the rare advantages of the pandemic, perhaps. Our expert advisors have been going through the detail in very close scrutiny since, and following a round of interviews with the firms, we will be taking a recommendation to the College Meeting on 16th March for a selected contractor and a decision to appoint them. We anticipate a start on site within a month of that decision being taken.
The aim is for Phase 2 (including the new-build construction of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Court) to follow on seamlessly from Phase 1; and we are hoping that the University’s handover of the Mill Lane Lecture Block to us will take place at the right moment to allow this to happen. We are pressing them hard on this point. Our hope is for a completion of Phase 1 in the autumn of 2022, and of the whole site in the autumn of 2024 or spring of 2025. It will be an incredibly exciting moment for the College.
We have been considering carefully the design for the seating in the auditorium, which is being created from the old Emmanuel United Reform Church. The hall needs to be able to be used for lectures and seminars and talks, but also for music and concerts; so the seats have to have the functionality needed for note-taking but also the comfort and relaxed feel that will be needed for listening to wonderful music. Designing seats that can do both is a challenge, but we have been working with three companies to create three different prototypes that we can assess and choose from. Our aim is, quite simply, to have the very best auditorium in Cambridge.
We have also been working with the Lead Artist we have appointed, Alison Turnbull, in order to establish the public art programme for the site. This has now been agreed by the City Council (it was a requirement of planning permission); and its principal elements are a mosaic pavement in the heart of the first courtyard, containing part of an old Waterhouse design from the building of the College Library in the latter part of the nineteenth century; two frescoes at either end of the new Foyer building; and a public art programme of workshops, talks, a dance performance, an exhibition, and a book, all associated with the completion of the project and of the artwork. One of the most important ways in which Alison has approached the public art programme is in drawing inspiration from the heritage of the College – the Waterhouse drawings, the College archives, the Meredith Dewey collection of astonishing minerals, the colour and design of our brickwork. Echoing this on the other side of Trumpington Street will be apt, and delightful.
As we approach the momentous point where builders move onto the site and begin work, we can reflect on the assiduous work, the meetings, the discussions, the careful thought, that has gone into everything preparing for this moment. It’s been a long but exciting process. And it’s about to get even more exciting. A huge “thank you” is due to all our alumni: together, you are making this possible. We are truly grateful.
Chris Smith
Master
March 2021