Emmaus Charity,
Landbeach, Cambridge

Client - Emmaus Charity

The Emmaus Community occupies a six acre site alongside the A10 north of Cambridge and offers homeless people a home, work and a chance to rebuild their lives.  Their initial accommodation consisted of two converted cattle sheds providing residential and retail units.  We were asked to master plan their expansion which developed into four phases of work.

Phases I and II provided a warehouse, workshop, and a refurbished and expanded retail area. Phases III and IV refurbished and extended the residential accommodation providing 24 bed-sitting rooms for the resident companions, a warden’s residence, communal dining facilities, TV rooms, library and lounge, all arranged around a paved courtyard.

Economical use of materials was a central part of the design. The buildings are constructed in brick and timber cladding and roof materials range from coloured corrugated fibre-cement and metal sheeting through to the glazed shop entrance. The warehouse incorporated a steel frame recycled from a demolished building, cut and remodelled to suit.