News

Dovehouse Court Highly Commended in prestigious construction awards

1 Apr 2024

Girton Town Charity’s new almshouses at Dovehouse Court were recently given the accolade of ‘Highly Commended’ in the 2024 Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, run by the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry (CFCI), and held at Pembroke College.

The winner in this category was The Technology Partnership (TTP), Melbourn which was recognised as a stunning addition to Cambridge’s science and technology campus style buildings, providing a benchmark for what can be achieved in a highly competitive and growing research and development market.

Exemplary design
On presenting the Highly Commended award, judge Maggie Baddeley said: “This is a terrific, fully-certified Passivhaus project by Girton Town Charity that is closely connected to its village setting. It demonstrates very clear sustainability ambitions – and has achieved an exemplary design standard for affordable housing (including social rented).

“The low-energy homes provided are spacious, colourful and characterful. Together with the community’s shared garden, a development has been created that has an uplifting quality, and at the same time has been entirely designed to suit its residents’ (and the Charity’s) needs.

“The judges feel that Dovehouse Court exemplifies ‘the art of the possible’ for specialist affordable housing (including social housing), and we hope that it’ll inspire others to pursue similarly ambitious sustainability and high-quality design objectives.”

The annual CFCI Awards celebrate the best construction projects completed in Greater Cambridge, including new buildings and conservation, alterations, or extensions to existing buildings.

Diversity and complexity
Dame Fiona Reynolds, former master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and former director-general of the National Trust, chaired the judging panel. She said: “This was a terrific year for the awards. The judges both enjoyed and were challenged by the diversity, complexity and ambition of many of the projects we saw.”

Ann Bonnett, GTC Chair added: “It was a great accolade for Dovehouse Court to be Highly Commended in our category at the CFCI Awards and testament to the vision and tenacity of our Trustees and the talented team who worked with us to turn our aspirations into the finished development.

“Already residents are enjoying living there and as an almshouse charity we are proud to have delivered housing that is futureproofed for the residents of Girton for many years to come.”