Cambridge Civic Quarter project will not see city centre become ‘modern monstrosity’

Plans to regenerate Cambridge city centre will not see the area turned into a “modern monstrosity” those working on the project have said. The newly appointed development consultancy tasked with leading the Civic Quarter project to “reimagine” the Market Square, Guildhall, and Corn Exchange, said they want to “get the best out of the existing buildings”.

Cambridge City Council announced its plans to create a new Civic Quarter in the city centre at the start of this year. The city council project aims to bring together the separate plans to upgrade the Market Square, the Guildhall, and the Corn Exchange under one scheme.

The authority said it wants to attract people living in the city and visitors to spend more time in the market, Corn Exchange and city centre shops, and to make it a safe, accessible and welcoming place. The city council said it also wants to conserve and upgrade the Grade II listed Guildhall and open it up more to the public.

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The authority announced it would be setting aside £20million for the Civic Quarter project, but said in January that most of this was proposed to be spent on the work on the Guildhall and that there was no specific funding for the Market Square work. The city council said it was also considering selling its offices in Mandela House in order to help fund the Guildhall improvements as well.

The city council recently announced it had appointed architects Cartwright Pickard to lead the work to design the new Civic Quarter. At a public meeting this week (May 15) members of the public questioned the new team about the plans to regenerate the city centre.

Antony Carpen, local historian, said there had been attempts to regenerate the Market Square in the past and that had been met with backlash from people in the city. He asked how the project team planned to make sure designs would not get the same feedback, and also encouraged them to give the city “something truly magnificent really makes people go ‘wow’”. James Pickard, from Cartwright Pickard, said he believed their job was to “get the best out of the existing buildings”.

He said: “We actually think some really wonderful things about [the Guildhall], at this stage of its life it needs TLC, it needs renovating, it needs reconnecting with the people of Cambridge and I think we feel we have got a fantastic team to do that. We are not planning on putting any modern monstrosities anywhere. We do need to breathe new life into this sector and I think we have got lots of really good ideas to do that and give the Corn Exchange, Guildhall and Market Square another 100 years.”

Glenys Self, a market trader, said it was really important that the traders were told when and where they would be moved during any works to the Market Square. She said the businesses would not be able to operate without certainty. Councillor Rosy Moore said she understood this and said the city council wanted to make sure traders could still run their businesses during any work.

She said: “The project’s main aim is to ensure the future long term success of the market, it is really important the design works for traders and shoppers. We also want to be able to keep the market running to enable traders to keep trading through the works, because if we have no market traders at the end, then we won’t have a market, and we won’t have succeeded, that is why traders are being prioritised.”

A representative from Cambridge BID also asked for the impact of any work on the shops surrounding the square to be considered. Councillor Richard Swift said he believed it was important whatever changes were made that the market remained a market square, he said: “It needs to be first and foremost a market square.” Cllr Moore said the aim was to modernise the square while maintaining the market.

Another member of the public said whatever changes were made to the Market Square, the project team needed to make sure pedestrians felt safe. The woman told the meeting that she needed a stick to walk and felt “very nervous” walking around the square at the moment. She said she would like to see people riding e-bikes and e-scooters being asked to dismount when going through the square. She said: “You want everyone who goes to Market Square to feel safe, the pedestrian experience is absolutely critical.”

One of the project team said they would be looking out what the street hierarchy would be and how the shared space would work. The city council said more public meetings will take place to update on the project, and confirmed that a formal consultation will take place later this year.