The Austin, Balfour and Cockroft Project is a strategically important element of the University of Cambridge’s wider Mill Lane North programme. It will enable the relocation of the Department of Land Economy and School of Biological Sciences teams into upgraded accommodation at the New Museums Site, supporting the University’s commitment to vacate Mill Lane buildings by July 2027. The project also includes new teaching space and specialist research accommodation, lift replacement, façade remediation and essential upgrades to fire-alarm, electrical and water infrastructure.

3pm is appointed as the University's project manager and we also act as NEC Project Manager and Supervisor, providing strategic oversight and day-to-day coordination across the project lifecycle. Our role includes programme integration, governance and reporting, stakeholder engagement, risk and change management, design coordination, procurement support and delivery oversight across multiple separate construction contracts. We have established clear decision-making and communication arrangements to align each workstream with the wider programme and have led stakeholder engagement for specialist elements, including the research facilities.

The project’s principal challenges include coordinating numerous interdependent workstreams within occupied academic and research buildings, managing incomplete existing-building information and sequencing decants and secondary relocations around live operations. Through detailed programme planning, proactive interface management and rigorous University governance, 3pm is supporting delivery against the fixed relocation deadline while maintaining business continuity and long-term operational resilience.