Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Grafton Centre Plans for Future

I had a couple of hours to kill in Cambridge yesterday so decided to document the present state of the Grafton Centre as it is 2 years since we last photographed the Grafton Centre. All the shops, restaurants and shops at the East Road end have now closed and a decision has been made as to how it is to be developed. Planners say the existing main entrance of the Grafton will be kept, with a corridor of shops leading to an outdoor courtyard that will take visitors to Burleigh Street, opposite the current Primark store. Two empty shops on Burleigh Street will be demolished to create another new entrance. A new life sciences building will replace Abbeygate House on East Road, with restaurants on the ground floor. The rear of the centre, where there are escalators and empty units, will become a "breakout area" for workers at the labs to use. There will also be a new Premier Inn hotel opposite the former Vue on East Road - see Artists Impression at end of Blog.

Last photoshoot 2023 - still some activity at the East Road End.
The plans for redevelopment

Monday, June 9, 2025

Boston Stump and Town

On Thursday, the rest of our group went off to Lincoln, which we have visited several times before, so we spent the day walking into Boston, looking round the town, starting with the Guildhall and spending time  inside the Stump (St Botophs Church) enjoying the wood carving, reredos  etc.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Trip to London 1

 We preceded a visit to the theatre in London on Wednesday with a look round the Portrait Gallery. It has undergone a lot of renovation work in recent years and now has special blinds that protect the artworks from damage by the sun but also create some fascinating silhouettes. A brief walk to our lunch stop at Ham Yard and then to the Harold Pinter theatre to see The Years - a wonderfully produced and acted play but not for the faint-hearted in places. 

Monday, February 3, 2025

Ely Cathedral Sunlit Interiors

Yesterday a party of photographers met at Ely Cathedral to explore the interior architecture. It was a clear sunny day so plenty of light bouncing around inside to show off the vibrant colours of stone, tile, painted wood and glass that comprise this 'Ship of the Fens'. Lots of techniques in evidence from putting camera on the floor to capture the  ceiling,  HDR (high dynamic range to control the contrasty light) and photographing projections of the window colours onto the floors. There were even a couple of Tilt/Shift lenses to help cope with the very high ceilings without distortion of the verticals.

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Pembroke College Mill Lane Redevelopment

Pembroke College's redevelopment of Mill Lane is nearly complete and I was able to wander round the area yesterday. The hoarding in the second photo with the demolition of the old buildings in the background is from June 2022 and these are taken with the same phone!!
The last three images show the 'modernisation' works in progress for the University buildings and Millers' Yard  further down Mill Lane.

Friday, November 15, 2024

The Regal Cambridge

A few images taken through the rippled glass windows of the hall at St Andrews Church of the back of Wetherspoons and the Geology Museum - candidates for a talk I am writing on photographing architecture creatively.