Morgan Sindall Construction and Skanska UK have each won jobs in Cambridge from rail pension-fund manager Railpen.
Skanska has picked up a £200m contract to build the 50,000 square metre Botanic Place office scheme on Hills Road, close to the university’s botanical gardens.
Designed by architect AHMM, the scheme includes the demolition of four buildings and a multistorey car park to make way for the construction of two buildings, standing at five and seven storeys, as well as car-parking facilities.
The job also involves the refurbishment of a pub, plus infrastructure works and access roads.
Railpen claimed in a statement that Botanic Place will be “the most sustainable speculative office scheme outside of London”, designed with a BREEAM Outstanding rating.
It added: “The workspaces will prioritise energy efficiency to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer while using 70 per cent less energy than traditional office buildings, and will be powered using renewable energy sources.”
Skanska is due to start on site this July with an expected completion date of March 2027.
Elsewhere in Cambridge, the 11,000 square metre mixed-use Devonshire Gardens scheme in Mill Road will be built by Morgan Sindall in a £77m deal. The contractor is due to start on site in April and complete the job by April 2026, Railpen stated.
Morgan Sindall will deliver up to 14,000 square metres of commercial space, plus 70 apartments, 800 square metres of food and beverage space, and 1.55 acres of public open spaces, including a landscaped park.
Both the Botanic Place and Devonshire Garden schemes are being developed by Socius on behalf of Railpen, which manages about £34bn of investments.
