Cam­bridge in the south of Eng­land is famous in par­tic­u­lar for its uni­ver­sity. 24,500 stu­dents are cur­rently enrolled at The Uni­ver­sity of Cam­bridge, which was founded in 1209. The North West Cam­bridge Devel­op­ment is a newly built uni­ver­sity site – where the pave­ments and squares are now illu­mi­nated with Olivio.

The North West Cam­bridge Devel­op­ment – designed by HGP archi­tects – is a project under the aus­pices of the uni­ver­sity intended to stem increased accom­mo­da­tion requi-rements in the face of rising land prices in Cam­bridge. On former farm­land on a sur­face area of around 150 hectares, some 3000 dwellings, 2000 stu­dent bed­spaces and 100,000 m² of com­mer­cial, sci­en­tific and retail space have arisen. Included in the master plan are also a com­mu­nity centre, a health centre, a pri­mary school and kinder­garten, as well as a hotel and the site’s own energy centre.

The state-of-the-art uni­ver­sity build­ings, which have been built in the north-west of this col­le­giate uni­ver­sity, are sur­rounded by spa­cious squares and linked by wide pave­ments. The light plan­ners at BDP have opted for a light­ing solu­tion that uses Olivio Pic­colo lumi­naires in brown, arranged on square-shaped timber columns. The use of wood – a sus­tain­able mate­r­ial – in an earthy brown colour enables the lumi­naires to form a link between the old and new parts of Cam­bridge Uni­ver­sity.


architect: HGP architects
lighting designer: BDP
photographer: Tom Niven, Amphitype
Representation: Selux UK