Rubicon

Located at the gateway to Cambridge University’s ambitious North West Cambridge Development, Alison Brooks Architects’ zero carbon residential quarter, Rubicon, builds on the paradigm of the 19th-century warehouse and offers a new concept of sustainable urban living.

This 186-unit scheme consists of five robust, S and L-planned adaptable buildings that create a distinctive urban edge to the new Green Corridor and wetland landscape beyond. Rubicon signifies a unique new urban character for North West Cambridge’s southern fringe that offers low-rise density, diversity, and sustainability, with cycling-based urban living at its heart. There is provision for cycle parking within each apartment and in the basement, along with a washing facility. Covered cycle store pavilions act as a threshold to each court, their filigree metal screens referring to the famous metal balustrades of St. John’s College First Court. The five buildings have been designed to have a palette of materials that reflects our Loft living concept, with robustness and permanence. Glazed bricks subtly change colour from east to west from pastel green, light green, silver grey, light blue to an azure blue, giving each building a strong identity. Between each building intimate courts act as urban thresholds, interlocking with south-facing gardens to overlook and embrace the landscape. These gardens are planted with indigenous species and provide a variety of natural habitats. Our scheme offers a communal ‘working foyers’ that open onto the south facing courtyards. These street and garden facing foyers enable informal co-working or large gatherings for residents.