Winning “The Cambridge to Oxford Connection: Ideas Competition” is the all-women team behind VeloCity. The competition is focused on the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford  arc, which currently is home to leading tech hubs and universities, as well as some 3.3 million people. The area is set to build on its productive history and its skilled workforce to become an area of rich success. 

The VeloCity plan is commended for its reimagining of the village model, and its consideration of technology and modern needs in adapting this social structure for the 21st century. Using transport as an impetus for developing the plan, the scheme will benefit from the introduction of a new rail system for the area, which will connect towns and cities. On the smaller scale, the development will put in place a strategical network of pedestrian and cycle routes, which explore and encourage the decreased need for movements by car. 

VeloCity clusters around six villages close to a new Oxford-Cambridge rail station, again utilising rail as a means to connect communities effectively and efficiently. This model could be replicated across the arc to create a huge number of homes and communities. 

The all-women team is a collaboration between Jennifer Ross of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design,  Kay Hughes (Khaa), Sarah Featherstone (Featherstone Young), Petra Marko (Marko and Placemakers), Judith Sykes (Expedition Engineering), and Annalie Riches (Mikhail Riches). 

The jury invited four teams led by Barton Willmore, Fletcher Priest Architects, Mae, and Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design to produce detailed strategies for integrating infrastructure with placemaking in the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford arc. The jury interviewed the shortlisted teams and selected the VeloCity team as winners. The four finalists each receive an honorarium of £10,000.