Locke Turing and Hyatt Centric, Eddington

The hotel sits at the centre of the Eddington Masterplan that comprises 3,000 homes; accommodation for 2,000 postgraduates; academic and research and development space; community facilities; and a care home. Its proximity to the centre of this new neighbourhood represents an opportunity for the site to become a place for both residents and the wider area to use. Hence the arrangement of the predominantly four-storey building around a beautiful central courtyard garden, landscaped by Robert Myers Associates, which will be accessible to all.

Reminiscent of a Cambridge court, this landscaped garden will be clearly visible and inviting as a public space thanks to wide covered routes from Market Square and the primary school. Around the perimeter of this garden, the ground floor is arranged as three separate elements: hotel lobbies, retail space and co-working and cafe/restaurant. These active, transparent, permeable spaces will open up to the garden and covered external areas, giving the ground floor a varied and lively feel.

150 Hyatt Centric guest rooms and 180 Turing Locke apart-hotel rooms are accommodated on a double-stacked corridor wrapped around the courtyard on first, second and third floors. In contrast to the open ground floor, the rooms for these hotels are private, more densely arranged and built from masonry. This defines the over-arching concept of a solid mass suspended above a lightweight, transparent base.

Cores for vertical circulation and storage space are located to the internal corners, maximising efficiency and facade aspects. Two distinct elevation treatments on the exterior of the building indicate the Hyatt Centric and Locke’s different identities.

At the southeast corner of the roof, a pitched-roof canopy, visible from the street below, will be used to host seasonal events and offers panoramic views back to Cambridge and its colleges.

The project has been developed with a high level of energy efficiency in mind, and a target BREEAM Excellent rating.

Heating and cooling to the Hyatt guest rooms will be via a heat recovery air conditioning system with smart design and sensors linked to openable windows. This ‘mixed-mode’ approach ensures brand standards are met while free cooling benefits are implemented as per the sustainability requirements.

The landscape spaces in the central courtyard will also improve biodiversity and contribute to the sustainable drainage strategy.

Relaxed, informal and chic, this sustainably built, community minded and economically diverse hotel complex will become a place to meet and a place to relax for visitors and residents alike.