Creativity, collaboration and community are at the heart of Cambridge Investment Partnership’s Newbury Farm development of 150 new homes, with school children and residents who know the area best joining with artists at creative workshops to help shape the new neighbourhood. 
 
Cambridge Investment Partnership (CIP), our housebuilding partnership with The Hill Group, is building the third and final phase of the Newbury Farm development, located between Babraham Road and Worts' Causeway in the Queen Edith’s area of the city.

The development will provide 150 new homes, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom houses. Of these, 60 will be council homes, including all apartments and three three-bedroom houses. 
 
Ahead of the sales launch of the first phase of private homes at the development in March 2026, pupils from the Queen Edith and Queen Emma primary schools took part in creative workshops led by artists David Mackie and Becky Adams.

More than 70 children explored the area’s rich identity through themes such as local habitats, Iron Age heritage and historic pathways. Using drawing, design, metal embossing, timber slice illustration, and simple book-making, the pupils created thoughtful and playful artwork that will directly inform the final public art across the site.
 
Some of the children’s drawings will be permanently embedded into bespoke timber benches, while other ideas will inspire a series of subtle, integrated artworks woven through the green spaces that connect the development. Together, these elements will form a trail of artworks, encouraging residents and visitors to explore the development’s landscapes while learning about the area’s ecology, history and character.
 
Community involvement extended beyond the classroom with residents joining David and Becky on a woodland walk around the site, sharing knowledge of the area, discussing ideas and reflecting on how the public art could best represent local stories and aspirations. These conversations were then fed back to the development team at a community group meeting, ensuring local voices remain central to the design process.
 
Cllr Gerri Bird, Cabinet Member for Housing at Cambridge City Council, and CIP Board Member, said: "We are incredibly proud of the communities that we are helping to create through our housebuilding programme. We want to do so much more than just build houses – and it is wonderful to see local schoolchildren and residents working together with talented artists to help shape the public art that will be at the heart of the new community at Newbury Farm. The workshops have not only enabled local people to help shape their surroundings but also celebrated the area’s natural and historical character. This is a fantastic example of how new developments can be enriched by community voices and local stories."
 
Tom Hill, Managing Director at The Hill Group, said: "At CIP, we are committed to creating sustainable communities where people feel a sense of pride and belonging. The public art at Newbury Farm will reflect the history, habitats, and pathways of the area while showcasing the creativity of local children. It will provide a unique identity to the development and a lasting legacy for residents."
 
Artist David Mackie commented: "Working with the pupils and local residents has been inspiring. Their ideas, drawings, and conversations have given us a wonderful starting point to develop artworks that are rooted in the local landscape and heritage. The themes of habitats, heritage, and pathways have been explored in playful and thoughtful ways, and we are excited to see these ideas take shape within the development."
 
Find out more about Cambridge Investment Partnership.