The existing Clayton Hotel Cambridge is located 150m north of Cambridge railway station on Station Road within Cambridge New Town and Glisson Conservation Area. The Hotel is situated adjacent to Microsoft commercial offices to the west and public amenity landscaping to both the north and east sides.

GCA+D Ltd. were briefed in 2021 to develop a proposal to extend the existing 160-bedroom Hotel, to meet demand for high quality, business, and leisure visitor accommodation in Cambridge. 

As the only viable area to extend is on the existing building footprint, on the rear side of the Hotel, an initial feasibility was carried out by Structural Engineers to ascertain the spare load capacity of the existing foundations and superstructure. Furthermore, the impact of any proposed development on the amenity of the neighbouring, particularly residential properties, was another primary consideration. An early consultation therefore also took place with daylight and sunlight surveyors to establish the maximum planning envelope that might be achieved without detrimental impact on neighbouring buildings.

The resulting extension proposes 19 additional bedrooms over 5 floors and a gross development area of 883sq.m. The proposed development is set down in height from the main roof and located to the rear of the Hotel where its visual prominence is limited and responds appropriately to the amenity space directly to the north. The fifth and sixth floors are set back from the main facades, providing the opportunity for several accessible roof terraces.

The proposed development completes the third, north side of the existing L-shaped building forming the upper storeys of the hotel and provides a comprehensive solution by adopting a similar design approach to the original building, in terms of scale, form and materials.