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Tower named after Tudor rebel to be demolished

Hannah BrownLocal Democracy reporter
News imageLDRS The corner wall of Kett House in Cambridge. The left third is glazed and shows interior stairs. The right two thirds is brick and on its side is an abstracted 1960s design representing an oak tree and people underneath it.LDRS
A sculpture on the side of Kett Building would be salvaged as part of the developers' plans, the city council was told

A 1960s office block named after a famous East Anglian rebel is to be knocked down and replaced with a far taller building.

The plans to demolish Kett House, on Station Road in Cambridge, were approved by city councillors.

The environmental charity, Cambridge Past Present and Future, objected to the proposal, describing the new building as a "monolith" and an "example of harmful over-development".

Developers Essex County Council and Stanhope said its eight-story design would provide "significant public realm and biodiversity enhancement".

News imageLDRS A five-story office building with a car park in front of it. It is built at a right angle with one block running to the left and the other on the far right. There is a entrance with a barrier across it to the car park, which has a few cars. On the far left is a pavement. LDRS
The current building has a weak structure and cannot be modernised, say the developers

The building honours the family of Robert Kett, a farmer from Wymondham in Norfolk, who led a rebellion in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI.

It includes an exterior wall sculpture that depicts the oak tree where the rebels held courts at Mousehold Heath in Norwich.

Laura Collins, project lead for Stanhope, said it was "particularly proud" of its plans to reuse the Kett Oak sculpture, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Planning officers said a condition could be made requiring the city council to sign off details for exactly where the sculpture would be installed.

News imageBennetts Associates/Essex County Council/Stanhope An artist's impression of a seven or eight story office block with a large tree in front of it. It is on the corner of Station Road to the left and Hills Road to the right. People are milling around. Bennetts Associates/Essex County Council/Stanhope
It will be replaced with something far taller and with a roof terrace

Collins said: "[This development] will transform a brownfield site, complete the regeneration of the southern site in Station Road, encourage active travel, and provide significant public realm and biodiversity enhancement."

Car parking spaces will be cut from 64 spaces to 12 and will be housed in a new basement.

Cycle parking spaces, on the other hand, will increase from 64 to 298.

The developers previously said the original building had a weak structure and could not be modernised.

The plans were approved by a majority at the Cambridge City Council planning meeting on Wednesday.

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