Updated Botanic Place plans in Cambridge approved with pledge over Flying Pig pub

A developer has pledged that pints will be pulled “as early as possible” at the Flying Pig pub in Cambridge once again.

The popular pub in Hills Road closed its doors in October 2021 while a battle took place over redevelopment plans for the office block around it.

Revisions to the planned £500million Botanic Place development were approved by Cambridge City Council on November 1.

The developer said the changes will make the 500,000 sq ft office development more sustainable - and pledged to bring the Flying Pig pub “back to life”.

A planning application to demolish the pub was originally approved by the city council back in 2007, as part of a development to build 156 new homes, as well as offices and shops.

In 2020 Pace Ltd submitted new plans to the city council, proposing to keep the pub, but looking to build a five-storey office building and a seven-storey office building around it.

These plans were refused by the city council in 2021 after councillors raised concerns about the size of the new buildings next to Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

However, this decision was overturned after an appeal was made to the Planning Inspectorate. The site was then sold to Railpen - the investment manager for the railways pensions schemes - which worked on the new proposals with development manager Socius.

Designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), the workspace is intended to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer whilst using 70 per cent less energy than traditional office buildings and will be powered using renewable energy sources.

Changes put to the meeting earlier this month included reducing the basement depth and delivering both buildings in one phase to shorten construction time by 21 months, increasing the amount of publicly accessible green space to more than 2,000 sq m and improving access for cyclists with two dedicated entrances in the centre of the scheme. The number of car parking spaces will be cut from 200 to 72, while the number of cycle parking spaces will rise from 1,406 to 1,428. More office space will be planned on the top floor of one of the buildings.

Planning officers said the size and scale of the building, or the proposals to reopen the Flying Pig, were unaffected.

Doug Higgins, development director at Socius, told the planning committee: “The pub on site is outside the scope of this application as we are not proposing any changes to the current consent, which will see it retained and brought back to life, capturing everything that made it a well-loved pub, but within a building that meets modern regulations.

“We are obligated to open the pub ahead of the office buildings and we will ensure that pints are being poured as early as possible once it is safe to do so.”

Mr Higgins said the changes to the office development would cut the construction period by nearly two years, and would reduce the building’s impact on the environment.

He said: “Botanic Place will deliver the most sustainable and intelligent new-build office buildings in Cambridge.

“It has been estimated that these buildings will consume 70 per cent less energy than a standard office building of this scale.

“They will have one of the smartest facades in the UK, not just in terms of architecture, but also in terms of their intelligent design and performance, reducing solar heat gain during the day and sucking in cool air during the night in order to keep the offices cool without having to rely on air conditioning.”

Cllr Sam Carling (Lab, West Chesterton) voiced support for the shorter construction period planned and said he thought the decision to approve the plans was “pretty clear cut”.

Cllr Katie Porrer (Lib Dem, Market) said there were a “lot of good things” about the changes, highlighting the increased cycle parking and improvements to the public area.

Cllr Dave Baigent (Lab, Romsey) agreed that the changes were “positive”, but was concerned about the construction traffic although he recognised this would be “reduced massively” by the shorter construction period.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the amendments

After the vote, Mr Higgins said: “We’re delighted that the council are aligned with us on our vision to make Botanic Place the most sustainable and intelligent workplace in the city.

“We would like to thank everyone that we have engaged with so far for their constructive feedback and support, and we look forward to delivering a space that the city will be proud of over the coming years.”

Richard Van Lente, senior asset and development manager at Railpen, said: “The vision for Botanic Place has been shaped by valuable input from the community and a local authority that shares our dedication to sustainable progress. The development will create specific employment opportunities for disadvantaged people from the local community through the construction phase, and once built it is our ambition that the space will be a hub of innovation, community, and wellbeing”.