We want to modernise the Guildhall to make it a central hub for local democracy, while acting as the front door for residents accessing council services.
Revitalising the Guildhall will help us to preserve a piece of Cambridge’s heritage, while supporting our net zero target and reducing running costs and making the building accessible.
Updated proposals (spring 2025)
The Grade II listed building will be conserved and designed to operate at net zero carbon, using EnerPHit principles to reduce energy use and installing Air Source Heat Pumps and solar panels.
The ground floor will feature a new customer service centre for people visiting the council, a welcoming public café, along with a Changing Places toilet open to the public.
There will be work spaces and meeting rooms for council staff, as well as work space for commercial tenants, and publicly bookable rooms for meetings or events, spanning the other floors.
The Council Chamber currently has fixed furniture and an uneven floor which makes the space difficult to access, and inflexible in terms of how it can be used, with wheelchair users forced to sit in gaps between furniture making participation in meetings difficult.
While considering the Chamber’s heritage status, the latest proposals would see the fixed furniture removed (while retained for use in other parts of the Guildhall) in order for the Chamber to become accessible, usable for different types of events including community events, and able to adapt to changing requirements such as increasing number of councillors following local government reorganisation.
The large and small halls will have sensitive modern interventions to deliver high quality multifunctional spaces. And in line with feedback received during the summer, the proposal to provide space for a hotel in part of the Guildhall has been removed.
Have your say on these proposals
Commercial spaces
We want to provide space for commercial occupiers on the upper floors to increase the council’s income, to help support the running of frontline services.
We understand that current users of the Guildhall may have concerns about how development will impact them and their business operations.
We are in regular dialogue with tenants who occupy the Guildhall about how the project will impact upon them, and their sub-tenants.
However, as part of developing proposals further during 2025, detailed work for the programme plan will be produced. This will enable us to provide more detail about next steps by the end of 2025.
As part of any future works, the council will put in place alternative arrangements to provide continuity of the Council’s democratic meetings.
