Alison Brooks Architects has designed a housing complex, in five buildings, in the shape of an S and L, dedicated mainly to university students and workers, with the aim of uniting two contexts and the city, leading the gaze of the inhabitant towards the landscape and evoking a feeling of historical continuity while clearly defining the urban boundary.
Setting a benchmark in residential sustainability in the United Kingdom, Rubicon is developed from a zero-emission carbon construction based on an architectural language focused on brick, cute corners and undulating roofs, transmitting permanence and versatility as well as a contemporary image of sustainability and efficiency.
Rubicon by Alison Brooks Architects. Photograph by Ben Hughes.
Project description by Alison Brooks Architects
“More than just a housing project, Rubicon offers a vision for the future of high-density, low-rise living, by interweaving cycling, home-working, community spaces and landscapes. We have reimagined how people can live, work and connect with one another as a community of shared interests.”
Alison Brooks, Principal at Alison Brooks Architects.
Rubicon introduces a new typology rooted in cycle-centred mobility, serving as a welcoming gateway and defining the urban edge of the 150-hectare Eddington master plan in northwest Cambridge. This net zero development, designed for the University of Cambridge and The Hill Group, redefines community living by merging warehouse loft-typologies with the collegiate court. Incorporating co-working spaces, sunlit courtyards and cycle-friendly apartments, the scheme acts as the urban threshold to the wetlands beyond.
“Rubicon sets the standard in sustainable living, using innovative, seamlessly integrated methods to minimise environmental impact. Key features include a development-wide rainwater harvesting system and underground waste management."
Tom Hill, Managing Director at The Hill Group.
The development offers 186 homes over 0.74 hectares, 35% of which are dedicated to university and key-worker housing, in five tessellating S- and L-shaped buildings. Their distinctive architectural language, featuring glazed bricks, curved corners and undulating roofs, conveys permanence and versatility. Between the buildings, urban-facing courtyards connect with ones that look out over the landscape to ‘stitch’ these two contexts together. Drawing upon 19th century warehouse and mill typologies traditionally found bordering rural settings, Rubicon evokes a sense of historical continuity with its location, clearly defining the urban edge.
A sculptural roofline that rises and falls softly unites the separate forms, echoing the Cambridgeshire landscape. The western edge of the site features a courtyard block inspired by Cambridge’s famed colleges. The glazed brick material palette of shimmering hues, from tranquil green and yellow to light blue, azure and silvery grey, gives each façade a unique identity. Deeply recessed south-facing balconies provide solar shading while offering unobstructed views.
The ground floor is a catalyst for community, with semi-public co-working foyers in each block encouraging spontaneous exchanges among residents, including academics, professionals, university workers, students and retirees. These robust ‘third spaces’ create hubs of activity where residents host regular social gatherings.
Rubicon sets a new UK benchmark in residential sustainability as a zero-carbon operational energy development, achieving Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) Level 5, with 82% of the building’s operational energy generated on-site. A ‘fabric-first’ approach emphasizes low U-values and air permeability, complemented by a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) District Heating System and efficient Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation (MHVR) systems to minimise energy demand.
