Hub and rooftop farm at office block gets approval

The former office block in Cambridge had a lifespan of another 10 to 15 years, park owners said

Plans to turn an empty office block into a new innovation hub with scientific laboratories and a rooftop farm have been approved by the local authority.

The Crown Estate said it wanted to "breathe new life into Cambridge Business Park" and the transformation of Robinson House would be an early part of this work.

Robinson House is located on the western edge of the business park, next to Milton Road.

Lizzie Sears, development manager at the Crown Estate, said: "We hope that Origin (the name given to the hub project) will be more than just a building, but will be somewhere that sparks the imagination and brings ideas to life."

The office block would be refurbished and a car park would be used as a modular laboratory space.

A cafe and an events space have also been proposed, as well as an urban farm growing on top of the building.

The Crown Estate said it planned for the Origin building, as it would be known, to be used for about 15 years, before being redeveloped as part of the final stage of a wider business park redevelopment.

The plans were approved by members of Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council on Wednesday, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The office block, at the junction of Milton Road and Cowley Park, is currently empty

A number of councillors expressed support for the plans, with Labour's Martin Smart from the city council saying the proposals offered an opportunity to do "some great things" with the old office block.

However, concerns were raised by some councillors about the ability of the sewage network to take foul water from the development.

Anglian Water has asked for a condition that would require the company to confirm there was "sufficient headroom at the water recycling centre to accommodate foul flows" from the development.

Planning officers advised councillors that they did not think this request was reasonable. They said Anglian Water had not been able to provide specific evidence to demonstrate the harm from the development.

Anna Bradnam, the Liberal Democratic chairwoman of South Cambridgeshire's planning committee, suggested that if the sewage works were over capacity it would be more likely to overflow into the River Cam.

She said they needed to find a way when future applications came forward to consider the cumulative impact of development on these facilities, rather than only focusing on individual applications.

Planning officers said the points raised over this issue were "important and valid" and said this was a point they would take forward to discuss with infrastructure stakeholders.