Skanska has taken the biggest of the two schemes, clinching a £200m contract to build what is set to be the most sustainable speculative office scheme outside of London.

Architect AHMM has designed the 540,000 sq ft Botanic Place project, which is to achieve BREEAM Outstanding, WELL and Wired Scored ‘Platinum’ ratings.

Botanic Place consists of 8-storey and 6-storey buildings sharing a common single floor basement

The workspaces will use 70% less energy than traditional office buildings and will be powered using renewable energy sources.

When work gets underway in July, Skanska will also preserve the historic public house, The Flying Pig, located on the development site.

The other Cambridge scheme being brought forward by Railpen with its development manager Socius is a mixed-use development known as Devonshire Gardens, near the city’s railway station.

Designed by architect Buckley Gray Yeoman, the seven-building-block Devonshire Gardens project will transform a three-acre site previously a Travis Perkins depot.

Morgan Sindall has secured the £77m contract to build the project, which involves 150,000 sq ft of work space and 70 build-to-rent flats, all set around a landscaped public park.

Homes have been designed to meet the city’s net-zero carbon ambitions and will be powered by electricity from renewable sources with no reliance on fossil fuels. Work will start in April.