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Mount Pleasant House, Cambridge

Planning permission has been granted to develop a new 275 bed student accommodation on the site of the existing Mount Pleasant office building in the centre of the historic city of Cambridge.

This new building will be leased to and operated by St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge who are located immediately adjacent to Mt Pleasant House. The living accommodation has been specifically designed to meet the needs of the college’s graduate student body, in particular a large standard en-suite study bedroom of 17.5m² which provides additional space for seating and storage. The development will also include a number of studio flats along with ancillary accommodation.

The planning and design environment around this particular development were of paramount importance and any proposals needed to be respectful of the buildings setting and its context within the West Cambridge Conservation area. Through an iterative design process that has been responsive to public consultation and feedback from the local authority, we have secured planning consent for a development that will improve what is a prominent site and replace a car dependent development with one that is focussed on walking, cycling and public transport.

The build programme is expected to take around 18 months, with the new student accommodation ready for occupation in the summer of 2019.

Dr Richard Anthony, the Bursar of St Edmund’s College said: “We welcome the council’s decision to approve the plans. St Edmund’s College has grown substantially in recent years and we have long believed that the Mount Pleasant site is the ideal location for new student accommodation, given its proximity to the college.  The plans will enable us to offer new high quality accommodation to our students at the same time as reducing pressure on rented housing in the private sector.”

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