Cambridge Grafton Centre developers 'excited' about impact

The Grafton Centre will be converted into office space for life sciences industries

Developers said they were excited about the potential impact of the regeneration of a shopping mall in Cambridge.

The city council approved the multimillion-pound transformation of the Grafton Centre.

It will be converted into office and lab space for life science industries, which will create thousands of jobs.

Opponents had been concerned over the scale of the development, with the centre due to become bigger and taller.

The Grafton Centre opened in 1983 before being expanded in the 1990s and refurbished in 2017.

However, developers the Pioneer Group, argued retail had been declining there at the same time as demand for lab space was increasing.

Subjit Jassy, director at Pioneer Group, said: "I am delighted that the council has given us approval to secure a long-term future for the Grafton Centre.

"The plans will bring thousands of new jobs to Cambridge while making the centre a more attractive place for local people to shop and spend time.

"We valued the consultation process and would like to thank all the neighbours, businesses, and local stakeholders who helped us refine and improve the designs to create a better scheme."

An impression of what the Grafton Centre could look like in the future

He added: "Our ambition is to start the preparatory work to deliver the project as soon as possible.

"There is a lot of detailed design and further engagement with the council required before this, but hopefully this can take place within the year.

"The first visible sign of this will be the demolition of Abbeygate House on East Road, and we will continue to engage with the community throughout construction and beyond."

The existing cinema and gym there are due to be retained with a 120-bed hotel also included in the development.

The new centre will cover a wider area and also be around 7m taller than the existing site.

This had prompted objections from local residents over the visual impact it would have on the surrounding area and views across the city.

Councillor Katie Thornburrow said she could not get away from the "significant concerns" raised by conservation officers and Historic England.

She said: "What is to say that another retail space in Cambridge will not come back with permitted development rights to change into a science space, and refer to this application where policy on tall buildings has been set aside.

"I am really concerned that these points were raised in the consultation and have not been dealt with to the satisfaction of these important consultees."

'A huge change'

The Pioneer Group said it was clear the Grafton needed to change, but that shops should still play a part in its future.

Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, an expert in consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said: "It's clearly going to be a huge change and something people will have to adjust to.

"It will be interesting to see if people will want to engage with it once it is actually built.

"People aren't shopping in the same ways as they used to because if it were still highly profitable to keep it the way it is, of course they would; there would be no need for development.

"It shows that with the high street and the shopping mall unless they are very engaging; then people will look for alternatives. The way people interact with shopping environments has changed drastically."