The Consistent Thread: A Case Study on Botanic Place

With sustainability ambitions and a complex city-centre construction programme, Botanic Place has many moving parts. Nick Wilson, Project Manager at Real PM, explains how construction knowledge, close coordination and timely decisions are helping to keep the development on track.

Botanic Place is a major new mixed-use development in central Cambridge that includes two large office buildings alongside retail and cultural space, new public realm and the redevelopment of the historic Flying Pig pub. With ambitious sustainability targets and a complex construction programme, the project requires careful coordination across a wide range of stakeholders.

Botanic Place is being developed by Railpen, with Socius as Development Manager, Skanska as main contractor and AHMM as the architect. Its sustainability ambitions set it apart. Botanic Place has already achieved a BREEAM Outstanding design-stage score of 100% and is targeting NABERS and WiredScore Platinum credentials.

Real PM was appointed as Project Manager in 2025, before construction began, supporting Railpen and Socius through the delivery of the development.

For Real PM, the scale of the project is only part of the challenge. The greater challenge is coordinating the many different strands of the project so that decisions are made at the right time and delivery stays on track.

The consistent thread

A project of this complexity involves a huge amount of information and a constant stream of decisions. Contractor design, planning conditions, sustainability requirements, procurement, utilities, logistics and programme all need to progress in parallel.

Real PM’s role is to make sure those different strands stay connected.

Regular meetings, trackers and clearly defined responsibilities are used to establish what information is needed, when it is required and who needs to provide it. The team follows those actions through, bringing the right consultants, contractor and client representatives together when decisions need to be made.

“We are the consistent thread through the project. At the simplest level, it is about making sure things are moving in the right direction, deadlines are understood and the right people are taking the right actions.”

That coordination also gives the client greater visibility of what is happening across the scheme. Rather than simply passing information between parties, Real PM uses its construction experience to interpret programme and delivery issues, ask the right questions and give Railpen the context it needs to make informed decisions.

Construction experience on the client side

The ability to interpret what is happening on site is central to Real PM’s approach.

The Botanic Place team brings together contractor-side, engineering and client-side project management experience. Nick joined Real PM following eight years with Sir Robert McAlpine and has an engineering background, while the wider team brings extensive experience of managing projects on behalf of clients.

That means conversations with the contractor can go beyond process.

“We are not project managers who just push paper. Understanding the construction process means we can have the right conversations with the contractor and help the client understand what is happening and what it means for the project.” – Nick Wilson

“That becomes particularly important when potential programme pressures emerge. Sequencing, material lead times, utilities, logistics and wider market conditions can all affect construction, and identifying these issues early gives the team more time to deal with them.”

Keeping sustainability in focus

The project’s sustainability requirements add another layer of coordination.

The technical solutions sit with the designers, sustainability specialists and contractor, but Real PM’s role is to make sure sustainability remains part of the day-to-day management of the project.

Design reviews, consultant coordination, contractor meetings and contract oversight all provide opportunities to check that decisions remain aligned with the required outcomes and that the people responsible for protecting individual credits are involved when they need to be.

Botanic Place’s BREEAM achievement demonstrates the level of ambition involved. The project secured 100.54% of available design-stage credits, resulting in a capped score of 100%.

The task now is helping the wider team carry that ambition through construction.

Building in central Cambridge

Building in central Cambridge brings its own challenges.

Botanic Place sits in the centre, close to the railway station and surrounded by an established community and transport network. Construction logistics therefore have to be considered alongside the needs of neighbours, the council and other stakeholders.

Traffic movements, highways interfaces and planning requirements need continuous coordination between Skanska, the relevant consultants and the wider client team.

Specialist consultants manage the direct interface with the local authority, but Real PM oversees the wider process, tracking the information needed to satisfy planning conditions and make sure the design and management inputs are ready when needed.

“You need the right people involved at the right time. A lot of project management comes back to keeping those conversations going early enough that something can be done at the time rather than waiting until it becomes a problem.” – Nick Wilson

Protecting the details

Among the more distinctive elements of Botanic Place is the Flying Pig, a well-known Cambridge pub whose existing shell is being retained and redeveloped as part of the scheme. The requirement predates Real PM’s appointment, but its integration into the wider development shows the level of coordination needed to deliver a project of this complexity.

Design development, commercial decisions, construction activities and fit-out requirements all need to be aligned so the building reaches the required condition at completion without creating an obstacle to occupation of the wider development.

The Flying Pig is a good example of the level of coordination involved across Botanic Place. Its design, construction and fit-out all need to align with the wider programme and completion strategy.

Being part of the team

Real PM’s approach at Botanic Place is intentionally hands-on.

Real PM’s team places a strong emphasis on being present, attending meetings on site and maintaining direct relationships with Railpen, Socius, Skanska and the consultants.

Barry Fowler, Real PM’s Managing Director and Nick have a proven track record of working succesfully on similar projects and in part joined the Botanic Place team due to their work on Oxford North, a Life Sciences project also in the OxCam growth corridor. Whilst Andy provides a senior role as Senior Planning Manager working with Nick on the day-to-day project management, Barry is on hand to provide director level support. Charlie Forte, a Senior Planning Manager in Real PM’s Planning team further enhance Real PM’s full-service project managment offering, providing the client with periodic in-depth planning reviews.

Real PM’s past experience on similar projects and present experience on the Botanic Place project has taught us that being on site also creates space for the informal conversations that can be just as valuable as formal meetings and reporting.

“You become part of the team rather than an entity sending emails from afar. Being there and being accessible helps build trust. It makes it much easier to have an open conversation and work through something together.” – Nick Wilson

It is an approach that relies on collaboration rather than creating unnecessary barriers between client, consultant and contractor.

The wider lesson

The ambitions behind Botanic Place are substantial, but the principles underpinning its management are simple.

Complex projects need information to move quickly, responsibilities to remain clear and decisions to happen at the right time. They also benefit from project managers who understand the management process and the realities of construction behind it.

That is where Real PM sees the value of its role: giving the client clarity while helping a large and experienced project team work more effectively together.

With completion scheduled for early 2028, the focus is now on maintaining that approach through the next stages of construction and turning Botanic Place’s ambitious design into a successful completed development.