Cambridge Research Park creates a natural business habitat

If English heritage lies in its landscape and its history, then Cambridge Research Park enjoys more than its fair share. A miniature lakeland of some 112 acres, it incorporates within its boundaries a 25-acre nature reserve, 12 acres of lakes and the Roman monument of Car Dyke - the remains of a waterway system that, two thousand years ago linked Cambridge to Lincoln.

In an age when sustainability of the environment is a key issue, the Park is a model of how that can be achieved: indeed the Slough Protocol, named after the Park’s developers, has already been officially adopted and promulgated as a template for new commercial development.

Central to the master plan for Cambridge Research Park was the regeneration of the landscape, much of which was originally a brownfield site (i.e. previously developed), which had served variously as gravel extraction pits, a landfill site and a caravan park.

Primary landscaping together with general engineering works involved the remodelling of the lakes as the central aesthetic feature of the site, and the transformation of the landfill area into a fully fledged nature reserve.

To encourage users to interact with the landscape, as opposed to being mere spectators, a network of footpaths, cycle tracks, lakeside decks and jetties was constructed, as well as a boardwalk which snakes out across the central lake. The boardwalk, with its plentiful seating and stunning views of the lake and its wildlife, is a popular lunch venue for people in the Park.

Around the lakes an area equivalent to five football pitches has been turfed. Avenues of shrubs line the road infrastructure, and no fewer than 570 mature trees have been planted.

Alongside this, the creation of a nature reserve, which combines a wildlife lake, a willow wood and open grassland areas, represents a significant departure from the blueprint of a typical business or science park. Not only has this been preserved in-tact, as the natural habitat of resident species such as Golden Oriels and Great Crested Newts, but it is also the subject of an ongoing ecological maintenance programme. The developers’ long-term objective is to recreate, in miniature, the original fenland environment, complete with reed beds, open water and wet woodlands.

The developers, Slough Estates, have also shown themselves to be responsible caretakers of the site’s archaeology. Car Dyke, one of the longest Roman engineered structures in Europe, is an important historic monument. Following extensive discussions with English Heritage and the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, a programme of management and restoration has been undertaken. This has included clearance works, new planting and ongoing maintenance to sustain it as a recognisable feature. At a time when many pay lip-service to preserving our heritage and sustaining the environment, it’s refreshing to find a commercial enterprise that practises what it preaches. Slough Estates’ investment will surely prove a sound one: the quality of the working environment they created is a powerful attraction to a new and more demanding generation of commercial occupiers.

Things are going swimmingly at CRP!

The environment at Cambridge Research Park has been further enriched by the introduction of Ghost and Koi Carp into the central lake. A selection of mature Koi and Ghost Koi, between one and six years old and weighing up to six pounds, has been supplied to the Park by Tim Watts of Framlingham Fisheries. Other lakes, of which the Park boasts five, have been stocked with Golden Orf and Golden Rudd, together with indigenous species such as Silver Rudd and Carp. The Ghost and Koi Carp, which quickly become domesticated, are surface feeders which will be very much in evidence, adding to the Park’s attractions, which already include wet woodlands and a nature reserve. The fish, both new and existing, will also help to maintain the ecological balance of the site. The larger fish will breed, sustaining the population, whilst the smaller, younger fish provide food for waterfowl such as cormorants, kingfishers and herons.