The Welding Institute (TWI)

Amend

Draft Policy J/NE: New employment and development

The Welding Institute (TWI)

This submission relates to the historical campus of TWI which forms part of the wider Granta Park campus, with the Bevan Braithwaite Building at the operational centre. The area falls within the ownership of TWI.

To the east of the main Bevan Braithwaite Building is Abington Hall (a Grade II* Listed Building) and its historical landscape to the south. The Conservation Area boundary runs down the west flank of Abington Hall. To the north of the Bevan Braithwaite Building is a Grade II Listed wall and cottage. There are currently a number of buildings and structures on the site, which have been introduced to meet various specific operational requirements of TWI. The buildings are functional and utilitarian in appearance. The site is accessed via the Granta Park site, via the internal circulation ‘spine’, principally from the north, but with a secondary access from the south. Listed building consent has recently been granted for the refurbishment of Abington Hall as part TWI’s future planning for the site.

TWI has occupied the site since 1946, with several generations of buildings built in its grounds as the institute evolved. During the 1990s, TWI formulated the idea of a new science/research park adjacent to its established Great Abington facility, which ultimately resulted in the development of the Granta Park campus.



The TWI land as it is today featuring a large number of buildings which are which are important to the ongoing operations of TWI, but over time may need to be adapted or replaced to meet the evolving needs of TWI has resulted in changing operational and logistical issues, which need to be addressed. The existing buildings also offer no flexibility as operations change over time.

TWI, as an organisation, needs to adapt and evolve to changing market conditions and the research requirements of its member organisations, and reflect changing operational requirements and respond to poor environmental performance of some of their older building stock. There is likely to be requirements to repurpose or replace some of the existing buildings on the site during the next 10-15 years.

TWI is undertaking a review of its business strategy and related space requirements, which are likely to flex and adapt over the life of this next Local Plan.

TWI would therefore encourage the Council to put in place policies which are supportive of this adaptation over time.

TWI is one of the UK’s leading independent research and technology organisations, that works across all industry sectors in the structural integrity field, and has a long history of innovation, invention and knowledge transfer, and are experts in many elements of manufacturing, fabrication and while life integrity management technologies. Their operations require a variety of elements including offices, teaching/education, laboratories, and heavy engineering workshops.

However, despite this relatively new facility (Buildings B1, B2 and B3 approved under applications S/1244/12/OL and S/1052/13/RM), there are a significant number of utilitarian buildings that remain on the site, which are scattered throughout it. These have been developed over the years in an ad-hoc manner as and when the functional requirements of the organisation evolved. They also offer very limited flexibility as operations change over time.

The requirements of the Bevan Braithwaite building have also changed over the years, and there is a need to rationalise operations and address the inflexibility of some of the existing buildings and shortcomings of the existing accommodation to meet TWI’s requirements over the next 10-15 years. The “Greater Cambridge Employment Land and Economic Development Evidence Study” 2020 identifies the benefits of adaptable buildings allowing firms to change and grow as they develop through their life cycle.

This will help the organisation that has positioned itself as a global leader in technology engineering, but also allow for new complementary businesses to be attracted to the park to make better use of established infrastructure and associated facilities.

TWI requests that full consideration is given to a new policy that will support and recognise a comprehensive approach to redevelopment and the opportunities afforded to site.

In doing so, it also needs to be recognised that the site context will be changing. The Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) proposals for a new Travel Hub adjacent to Granta Park would provide an off-road public transport route between Granta Park and Cambridge with an adjacent footway /cycleway, thereby providing an off-road route between the city centre and Granta Park. It is proposed to improve the cycle bridge across the A11 between Granta Park and the Babraham Research Institute thereby improving cycle access a significant barrier. As part of Phase 2 of the CSET route will create a new bus and cycle route direct to Granta Park. These routes will connect to the Chisholm Trail for journeys to north Cambridge, or the rest of the Cambridge City cycle network, and will allow a mode shift to cycling.



Comment

TWI requests that full consideration is given to a new policy such as an “opportunity area” that that recognises opportunities afforded through the redevelopment of the site, through both a rationalisation and upgrading of the existing building stock and the opportunities afforded to attract new occupiers through sensitive new development.