First construction milestone reached at Railpen’s Mill Yard neighbourhood

The latest milestone at Mill Yard, Railpen’s new neighbourhood located on Devonshire Road, has been reached with the topping out of the first residential building.

Mill Yard is Cambridge’s newest neighbourhood and comprises three office buildings: Mill Yard (MY) North, South, and Central, as well as two residential buildings and a nursery situated around a publicly accessible park.

The £180m commercial and residential development is being delivered by Railpen, its development partner, Socius, and lead contractor, Morgan Sindall Construction. Mill Yard is targeting completion in 2027 and forms part of Railpen’s Cambridge innovation cluster.

The development is located off Mill Road and is around five minutes’ walk from Cambridge railway station. The neighbourhood will offer 110,000 sq. ft of flexible workplaces, 70 build-to-rent apartments, a 2,100 sq. ft nursery, a restaurant, a café / bakery and an outdoor pavilion for community events.

The site’s workplaces will overlook landscaped gardens and incorporate layouts designed to facilitate innovation and collaboration. Railpen is targeting NABERS Design for Performance 5-star and BREEAM Outstanding ratings, ensuring the workplaces meet the highest standards of sustainability and environmental performance.

Once complete, the buildings will be all electric, using a combination of on and off-site renewable energy sources. Morgan Sindall has utilised its Intelligent Solutions approach to minimise Mill Yard’s environmental footprint, with 99% of the waste generated being diverted from landfill and setting a potential embodied carbon saving goal of 5,013 tonnes. The carbon saving target has been calculated utilising the digital carbon calculation tool CarboniCa. A 280% biodiversity net gain target will be met by installing bat, bird, and bee boxes, alongside green roofs, hedgehog habitats, and evergreen planters.

The neighbourhood will provide 1.55 acres of publicly accessible green space, with over 120 trees, edible and ornamental planting. The gardens will incorporate a new community pavilion, designed by George King Architects, as well as a perimeter running track, secure cycle parking, and end of journey facilities.