Merchant Taylors Almshouses

This February, Feilden+Mawson had the privilege of being involved in a local youth engagement workshop at Shirley Community Primary School in Cambridge, organised by Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Services. The sessions were set up to bring awareness of the built environment to students of a young age through talks on placemaking and careers, a presentation by Jane Coston (who was responsible for addressing the need for a cycle bridge over the A14 between Milton and Cambridge), a quiz, and a design competition.

We were able to show the students the plans for the proposed new building at the Vitrum building site, at St. John’s Innovation Park, through a virtual walkabout from the school to the site, orientating the students and drawing their attention to some of the natural and built features within their local environment.

Having the opportunity to help inspire the next generation of designers and architects by showing them exactly how a new development can impact their local area is such an important part of the work we do, and it was amazing to see them having fun engaging with the task of designing a new piece of outdoor furniture. The sessions were concluded with an awards ceremony for all the designs, and the winning two will be incorporated into the landscape design at the finished Vitrum site, with replicas installed at the school.

Our thanks go out to the other attendees, Richard Turner and Aaron Kazam from Breakthrough Properties and Emma Woods of Sphere 25, the organisers, Bonnie Kwok and Tom Davies of Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Services, and Headteacher John Cattermole and all the teaching team at Shirley Community Primary School, for making it such a rewarding experience.