Project Overview
Cowan Court is a three-storey student accommodation building with curved elevations, providing 68 study bedrooms, 3 fully accessible rooms, 4 shared kitchens on each floor, a large open plan meeting room, basement storage and plant room spaces.
The construction is a combination of pre-cast concrete beam and block floor with timber walls supporting a ‘double grid’ of joists.
The primary joists are glulam beams, which span from the external to the courtyard façade. In addition, each bedroom features a bathroom pod that was pre-fabricated off-site. However, what makes this project most unique is that the external elevations are clad in reclaimed oak from former French railway carriages.
A key innovation that SDC introduced into the process was to construct a full-size mock-up of a student bedroom on the site before building works began.
The mock-up included a glulam frame, incorporating metal work, joinery, windows, the roof and a corridor. The full-size sample gave SDC the opportunity to assess the time it would take to prepare the reclaimed oak for the cladding. The very thick oak planks, which were taken from the carriage decks of old French freight trains, required a great deal of preparation.
One of the greatest challenges involved in the project was constructing a high-performance building that used Passivhaus principles.
The assembly of the external wall package was an extremely complex, thick-layered system. It involved an incredible degree of co-ordination between the different trades to ensure the construction was implemented consistently so that it achieved airtightness.
Cowan Court won the ‘Best Large New Building’ award in the Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, as well as well as being ‘Highly Commended’ at the 4th Annual Wood Awards.
Core Team
Adam Knaggs
Project Director
Adam has cultivated a celebrated career in construction management, culminating in his appointment as Managing Director in September 2021. His early exposure to the construction industry began with hands-on experience assisting his father in building agricultural structures. Following his GCSEs, Adam launched his own business, focusing on farming construction projects for a year. However, due to a decline in workload, he joined SDC in 1995.
Commencing his tenure as a Trainee Site Engineer, Adam has steadily advanced through a variety of site-based management roles, accumulating a wealth of experience and making substantial contributions to the company’s operations. In his capacity as Managing Director, he now plays a pivotal role in defining SDC’s strategic direction and ensuring the successful delivery of its diverse project portfolio. He also has overall responsibility for Health and Safety, and Quality departments.
Adam has led significant large-scale projects, including the Northampton College Redevelopment which, at the time, was one of the largest contracts in SDC’s history. His leadership on this project earned him recognition as a finalist in the Construction Manager of the Year Awards in 2009. Earlier in his career, Adam also received the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Site Engineer of the Year Award in 1999 for his innovative shuttering system design.
Beyond his project work, Adam has been an active participant in the broader construction industry. As Chair of the Cambridgeshire branch of the Chartered Institute of Building from 2016 to 2019, he promoted collaboration and professional development within the sector. More recently, he served as a trustee of the CFCI for three years. Under Adam’s guidance, SDC continues to advance its long-standing tradition of delivering quality construction projects, supported by a commitment to innovation, excellence, and community engagement.
Ian Riley-Brown
Contracts Manager
Ian joined SDC in 1996 as a Senior Quantity Surveyor and has since held key leadership roles, including overseeing projects up to £30m, and managing pre-construction from 2019-2023. In 2024, he was appointed Sustainability Manager, where he spearheads initiatives to improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, and enhance environmental performance across our fleet, plant and supply chain. Ian plays a pivotal role in driving SDC’s commitment to advancing sustainability practices and reaching our carbon goals.
Carl Seager
Commissioning Manager
Andy Roberts
Design Coordinator
